Tribal Reasoning
by Nami-Lass
Summary: AU Arguing villages, exiled friends, troublesome tribesmen and wild animals are suddenly thrown in the path of the Chief's daughter, who is already finding herself having to deal with the unknown, green haired stranger who saved her. ZoNa
1. Chapter 1

**Author: **Kinky-Nami-Lass

**Story Title: **Tribal Reasoning

**Rated: **M

**Contains: **Adult scene, bad language, AU

**Pairing: **Zoro-Nami, Hints of Kaya-Usopp

**Summary: **Arguing villages, exiled friends, troublesome tribesmen and wild animals are suddenly thrown in the path of the Chief's daughter, who is already finding herself having to deal with the unknown, green haired stranger who saved her. Little does she know he is the very man whom she had been betrothed.

**I do not own One Piece or any of its characters and I am not making money from their distribution within this story. ** **I do own this story's plotline, however. **

**This story has been rewritten and altered. Was under the name Tribal War and Affection.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**

The land was bare and cold, and winds carried even the smallest traces of sand and dust across the plains and throughout the village. The sun rose steadily over the silent grounds of the Coco tribe. It shone through the slumbering stone huts, causing the villagers' eyes to flicker and awake.

One hut in particular was waking in order to direct their people into the day's activities. The man's eyes fluttered and then opened as he let out a long exaggerated yawn to start the day. He was lying on the floor covered in a tiger skin to keep him warm. Once he dressed in his thick fur boots, loin cloth and poncho he walked into the next stoned room to wake the person expected to be in bed.

He shouldn't have been surprised to find the room empty and the tiger skin made up over the blankets. His smiled fell and in its place, a long sighs followed his leave from the house as he looked up to Mount Hayashi. He narrowed his eyes, partially to peer for any traces of movement and partially because of the sun's unrelenting glow.

"That girl is going to get hurt one of these days," He mumbled to himself.

* * *

The orange haired girl had woken up before dawn and changed in order to go see the Witch Doctor. He was a tall man with huge bushy black hair and a long nose. The people of the village said he was a feared man and not to be meddled with. She knew differently however, as he told many tails that sounded too good to be true. He lived there with a little reindeer doctor by the name of Tony Chopper.

When she first came across the upright, _talking _Tanuki (reindeer! He had squealed at her) she'd been too stunned to speak more than her suspicions. The doctor was able to talk from eating one of the devils fruits from the forbidden trees that lay deep within Oni-Mori. He used to be a regular reindeer until the fruit gave him the ability to transform into a half-man, half-reindeer.

Though why reindeers hung around that mountain in the first place, she'd never know. She assumed they preferred colder climates.

She had met them when she bravely ventured onto the Mount they lived upon. She studied them from afar, amused and stunned at their idiotic but kind-hearted behaviour, and decided to meet them. She was sick of the males in the village hounding her, so instead she went out to seek some trust-worthy friends.

The villagers only ever visited the small doctor when their lives were greatly in danger or that of their children's. Chopper occasionally set out to the villages to heal the wounded or ill, risking his life in the process as someone always threatened to cook him. Trust in what they didn't understand was common place for the village.

Whereas Usopp, the great witch doctor, crafted and made unimaginable weapons, which gave him his title. Many brave warriors sought his crafts and wares, as the only thing he asked for in return was their name and the materials to craft the weapon of their choice (this she didn't understand). He loved his skills and enjoyed making them, so didn't bother for much in return unless they offered to fetch enough food to last the week. He was a coward at heart but this was only known by Chopper and the orange haired girl who was sprinting up the slope to reach her destination.

She didn't usually venture out to see them so early in the morning, but thoughts weighed heavily on her mind all night. She kept thinking of wanting to explore Oni-Mori, to find some way to stop the war or at least protect her people. That was when she remembered talk of the devil's fruit and other mystical things that lay in the forest. She didn't want people to suffer over a worthless fight for land and food when there was plenty of room and resources for both villages to live happily. Hell, there was a whole plain separating them!

It started when her father refused to let her marry the son of the opposing tribe. There had been plenty talk from those who knew it was the only logical explanation. She even imagined her old man giving her a talk, trying to convince her, but it never came. He didn't even seek her opinion; it was denied on the spot. When she questioned this, he simply replied he wanted her to marry for love, so he could be proud of her (and give the guy hell, no doubt). The village backed up her father's decision, not just because he was the head chief of their tribe but because she was beautiful and the villagers wanted her to marry their sons or themselves. As for the women, most truly respected Nami. She was just as much a treasure as the White spear (an heirloom passed down to each leading generation).

She would only resort to marriage as a last resort if she couldn't find some other way of settling matters. As thankful as she was that her father, Genzo, allowed her to keep her freedom, she found it traumatic that both of the villages were to be at war because of greed and that many lives would be taken because she wouldn't give her own to a caged marriage. Sometimes, she felt so selfish.

The villagers must have sensed she felt guilty, and began to tell her stories of the son of the opposite tribe. They stated he was a ferocious man, who showed no mercy to anyone who stepped in his way. He was apparently a murderous demon and the strongest man they have heard of. The stories had the desired effect, making her shivers head to toe in fright. Though none of them had seen him or witnessed this for themselves, making her unable to accept the 'truths' of which they spoke of. She preferred to make her own decisions and assumptions about people. They didn't even know his name.

If the man was as frightening as they said, she would have to find some sort of weapon or ability to defend the village she loved so much…

When she finally made it to the cave her friends dubbed 'home' she entered, breathing heavily from the morning run.

"Chopper! Usopp!" She yelled cupping her hands around her mouth.

No reply came making her shift uneasy. _What if some beast got them?! _She thought.

"AHHHH!" Voices yelled from behind her.

She screamed in reply and turned to punch the presence behind her. **BAM!**

She heard a cry followed by a muffled voice, "Ouff! Nami! Why'd you do that?"

"U-Usopp?" She had landed a punch to the nose; she wondered why it had felt so rubbery. "YOU SHOULDN'T SNEAK UP ON PEOPLE!"

"That was still uncalled for!" He yelled back in protest as his nose bled.

Chopper screamed from around the corner as he watched the spunky girl and cloaked man arguing. He ran over and noticed Usopp's nose bleeding.

"Ah! We need a doctor! Usopp you're hurt! No wait--- I'm a doctor!" He screamed running back and forth until he dragged Usopp to the floor with his hoof. He immediately began to clean his nose.

"Sorry," Nami said sheepishly. Her composure immediately changed as she winked and posed. "But you'll forgive me since I'm so cute right?" She asked with a grin.

"NO WAY!"

She hung her head low before remembering why she sent out to visit. "Usopp, is it done yet?" She asked with a concerned expression.

"Yes, I finished it yesterday!" He yelled in triumph. "It's over there. I call it..."

She nodded in excitement pushing him to say the name…

"It's called…"

"Aha!"

He started up a drum roll receiving a blow to the head by an angry Nami. "P-Perfect clima tact!" He wailed, getting his new injury seen to.

She walked over to the corner of the cave and inspected the shiny pole which was propped against the cave wall. It was perfect, but she needed to test it.

"We're going guys! I wanna know how to work this thing." She said with a grin, sparing them no more than a backward glance.

Outside, halfway down the slope she looked back and forth searching for some sort of animal or creature to test her new weapon out on. He was shocked when she first asked him to create such a weapon, but gladly accepted the challenge and looked forward to this moment.

She heard the pattering feet before she noticed the blue fur which stood upright atop the creature. A wolf, she summarised, momentarily paralysed at the sighting. With a firm grip and a strengthening resolve, she spun the weapon in her hands, feeling it grow hot beneath her finger tips. The wolf turned to her, its wild eyes narrowing, then it pounced forwards, intent on setting its drooling teeth around her skin.

"Thunderbolt-tempo!" She yelled eventually, tripping backwards to the floor when the animal nearly landed on her.

A dark cloud formed above them and struck the lone wolf hard, hitting him hard enough to crash back down to the earth and smoke. She yelped, covering her face with her arm and glanced back up, noticing its empty gaze was no longer focused. Dead.

Then, as if sense only just sparked within her, she stood up quickly, with a noticeable smile evident on her lips. She snatched the doctor and blacksmith's hands quickly and tugged them up the mountain, back towards their dwelling.

She didn't realise it would be so powerful. Surely, both villages would have noticed the odd sighting of lightening. She could be classified as a witch!

"N-Nami! What are you doing?" Chopper called out to her, trying to keep up with her harsh pace while holding onto his pink hat.

"If someone notices we were in the middle of that, we'll either be killed or exiled!"

The two boys shared a hesitant look, before they picked up the pace. They followed her without complaint, not bothering to remind her they were already classed as exiles.

When they made it back to the cave they all flopped to the floor, which was covered with a multitude of animal skins, and laughed heartily. Their backs rested against one another.

"That was great Usopp! Thank you!" She smiled.

"No problem! Just make sure you stop this war; somehow!" Usopp replied with a satisfied grin.

She faked a smile, hoping they would look away. As soon as they did she looked to the ceiling sadly. She wasn't a fighter, and tried her hardest not to get caught up in trouble. It was different this time however. Lives were on the line; the lives of the people she loved most. She didn't know everyone in the village as it was a decent size, and some chose to live in solitude, but still loved all of them. Except the male gangs that went around abusing the women of the village, she wanted nothing more than to hurt them so much.

Her mind began to wonder to her friends. Robin and Vivi would sit gossiping with her or go on an adventure with the fearless Robin whilst Vivi would complain and remind them of their responsibilities. She felt herself smiling at the image of her friends. All the males would gladly give a limb or two to be able to marry them or be let in their friendship circle.

She knew she was fierce and hard when it came to discipline for the male members of the Coco tribe, but she still admired them. Everyone was part of her beloved Coco.

She had left the two doctor's cave, her weapon strapped to the leg harness Usopp made out of tiger skin, and headed down the slope in a slow stride admiring the many green trees and flowers. When she neared the bottom of the slope she stopped, turned and looked up towards her favourite part of the Mountain.

Her beloved Mikan groves.

A messy bush full of oranges and un-cropped twigs filled a small area. She often came here to relax and breathe in her favourite scent. It cleared her mind and gave her freedom, knowing no one else knew of the hidden bushes. She hadn't even told her friends of this place, wanting to greedily keep it for herself.

She got up, after picking an orange to eat, and began to walk back to the village. She promised to hang around with Robin and Vivi today and she didn't want to go back on that.

* * *

When she made it back she walked straight to their meeting point, which was the edge of Coco-Mori, the forest on the outskirt of the village. She walked over and noticed Robin was already there, wearing the usual two-piece lion skinned outfit. It curved over her figure nicely and had leg warmers to match.

She smiled and waved at the raven-haired woman, who was politely standing against a tree. "Sorry to keep you waiting… where's Vivi?" She questioned.

"She hasn't arrived yet…" Robin smiled, admiring Nami's new weapon. "Why do you need a weapon?"

"You knew it was a weapon? Usopp made it for me to protect myself with… for… no reason…" She lied flashing a nervous smile, which Robin seen through.

The woman crossed her arms and let extra hands grow from the red-head's body so that they could tickle her. Nami began to cry with laughter from the tickling torture Robin was dealing, but she couldn't tell her friend her plan in case she endangered her too.

She was saved by Vivi who shouted over to them, sprinting with all her might. She wore a leopard skin dress, which was shortly cropped and a little too innocent for the men to ignore.

"We have to go!" she laughed pointing towards the large crowd of men running towards them.

"Let's go!" Nami yelled laughing. This had apparently become a daily thing for them to do, which lead to the three of them becoming very fast sprinters.

The three girls turned and ran through the green forest which only had the occasional beam of light soaring through the cracks in the canopies from above. They laughed and jumped over different obstacles and then looking back to see if they had given up yet.

The men were still on their trail, although not as many. They assumed those they'd lost had either given up or stumbled and lost their speed. It didn't stop the resilient few still tailing them with excited grins.

All of a sudden, ten men jumped out at the girls surrounding them. Their once cheerful attitude diminished as they realised the men surrounding them were not part of the guys who chased them. They were the gang members of the village.

The men licked their lips and howled at the three women, jeering and smirking. Some had a stick or small blade, which had probably been made by Usopp or found. Blades were rare but it wasn't surprising the men carried them.

"Come on girls; make it easy!" The leader laughed.

"Kohza!" Vivi yelled, recognising her old friend. "You didn't used to be such a jerk!"

"Come on babe! A man has wants… and I want you and your friends." He licked his lips making the girls glare at him.

"Fine," Nami grinned. The men all turned to her, wondering what she had meant by her words. Some even began to get ahead of themselves, licking their lips or eyeing her with barely contained thrill.

"See, this way no one gets hur-!" He began to say until the arrogant read head cut him off.

"You seem to be under the mistaken impression that we're going to go quietly." She laughed.

"Get them!" Kohza yelled, his gaze shifting over to Vivi, who frowned in his direction. The three of them jumped up onto the nearest branch and began to climb higher and jump from each branch, every now and then they would swing on a nearby vine. They kept relatively close to one another, but at the same time kept their distance in order to split if it became necessary.

When the men began to mimic the girls they jumped down from the trees and stopped. They had made it to the border of the forest and could see the Oni-Mori forest in the distance, across from the small, bare plain. They looked at one another and made a run for it knowing it was risk the forest or risk their freedom and innocence. Besides that, the men would most likely give up than risk their necks in those woods. It meant they didn't have to travel far.

They eventually made it to the tall thick trees, which huddled close to one another enclosed with bushes and wild flowers. Sounds of animal calls and roars could be heard from within the forest. The smell of blood and damp drifted from the wind into their hair and crawled over their skin. They paused in their tracks, glancing behind them.

"We know you're not stupid!" Kohza called, signalling the gang of ten hadn't given up. Nami knew they were exhausted and could hear them breathing heavily and cursing under their breath. She quickly signalled the others, and they dashed apart and hid.

What annoyed her most about this gang was that they were formed of rebellious members from each village and lived wherever they could sneak into. Clearly they had been in Coco forest recently and maybe expected the girls to stop there. They were really organised and pretty strong for a small bunch.

"Don't judge us so rashly!" Vivi snapped, turning quickly to head deeper for the thick, ominous trees before Kohza and his cronies could identify the direction of her voice. Robin and Nami quickly followed.

They ran for a further and deeper, and then jumped back up to higher grounds, with the help of Robin's devil fruit ability. They began to jump from tree to tree again but wobbled unsure of the branches. They seemed slippery or rather…sticky. Nami didn't dare identify the substance.

They turned their heads to realise they were next to a lake which continued ahead of them. The trees began to tilt lopsidedly, barely able to stay upright as they merged with the river bank to their right. Nami's stomach began to flip when she glanced over at the wide expanse of dark, glistening water. The momentary distraction was all it took for her foot to slide on the next branch she'd jumped to.

She slide off the tree, a slight squeal on her lips, and collided with the water, which splashed noisily and submerged her. The sound and sight of the fall alerted some of the men, who skidded to a stop and looked over the water for signs of life.

She emerged from the water and shouted up at Robin and Vivi. "Keep going! Stick together!" After seeing a barely visible Robin, who had stopped to watch her, nod with Vivi she dived back into the water and swam to the opposite side of the lake. Something grabbed at her ankle in the water however, making her struggle to reach the surface. She started to scream when her head broke the surface.

After somehow managing to kick off the intruder, fighting against the water as well, she swam quickly to the opposite bank with ragged breaths. It took quite some time to reach, but eventually she found herself slowly climbing out and dripping over the crisp grass. She crawled forwards, trying to catch her breath and stand up, but found her eyes shutting against her will.

_I can't… I need to sleep… _She thought as she closed her eyes, drifting off against her will.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

The stone huts were perfectly aligned throughout the village of Shimo, and in each hut a small family or a member of the tribe slept quietly awaiting the dawn to enshroud them with light. The main hut, which was at the edge of the village, was unusually loud and voices were carried in the wind.

"You must fight with us!" The elder man called to the younger, more arrogant male.

"Why? There's plenty of land to share and animals to feed off. It's a pointless war," he replied with a cocky voice. He wasn't enjoying the chat the man initiated with him, and so early in the morning. He scratched his head absentmindedly.

"You represent me and I represent this village, as will you when I pass on!" Nakai shouted to his ignorant son.

He yawned and leaned back against the wall next to three blades encased in a beautifully designed scabbard each. They looked precious and well presented.

"You're the one who wanted to start a war not me. Go represent yourself."

His father stormed out of the house yelling insults to the man who opened one eye to watch him out. He stood up and walked out of the hut in search for some form of entertainment he doubted he'd find within the captivity of the village.

The sun had now risen high, and people started to file out of their quarters and into the centre of the village, where the water was kept. The young man heard his father's morning talk with the villagers and decided to ignore him and walk over to the large area the men of the village trained in. They all had different unusual weapons of ivory and bone in contrast to his metal.

He had his specially made from the Witch Doctor Usopp around half a year ago when his ivory started to look boring. He always had the white blade in memory of his sister, Kuina, who died eight years before. But the two new black blades were made specially.

He doubted they would remember him now, but they seemed like normal people, which was strange since the rumours stated otherwise. He had basically done business with them and then left, not bothering to stick around to make friends. The closest thing he had to friends was Johnny and Yosaku; but they were more like comrades or brothers in combat, as they fought and hunted together.

Being the strongest male in the village, the other men were prone to envy everything he was, while others feigned a form of camaraderie, while slandering behind his back. They used him for fame and to get the attention of the women in the village, so he chose to ignore them. The women flocked after him like crows, since being with the strongest man in the village was in at the moment. Women always went after the strong, handsome hunters of the village and he was all three and more. He was the chief's son, and future chief of the village.

He headed to south of the village and walked into the last haven which was bigger than the average hut, but not quite as big as the chiefs. He leaned against the wall impatiently, waiting.

"Who is it? Whaddya want?" Johnny said irritably, turning around to melt the intruder under his gaze.

"It's me, " Zoro said angrily.

"Ah, Aniki!" Johnny yelled running over to Zoro, who grinned smugly at the welcome. All signs of anger and annoyance were wiped clean, as his devoted follower recognised him. "Yosaku went to find out where the wilder animals are hanging from the older huntsman."

"They should just lie down and get old, let us do the jobs from now on…" Zoro grinned, putting his hands behind his head.

"Aa!" Johnny agreed enthusiastically, tying an ivory sword to his side quickly.

Just then, Yosaku ran through the animal skin curtain that draped over the entrance of the hut and grinned at their respected comrade. "Aniki, I found out where the packs have been sighted! Let's go get some meat!"

Zoro just smiled and followed them out the hut to lead the way. He was psyched about hunting again, as the herds and packs had been hiding the past few days, meaning he could only train to pass time and run away from the screaming girls who watched him. He was freaked out when they leered over him and drooled or squealed at one another as he lifted boulders and crates of water. It was disgusting and not to mention distracting. How was he to achieve perfect peace of mind with their constant interruptions?

As soon as they left the hut they headed straight for the forest between the two tribes in the area, Oni-Mori.

* * *

Zoro found himself wondering into a daydream. He thought about how his life was pretty boring. He was already the greatest swordsman, and no new challengers came to the village lately. If he wasn't hunting he was training or sleeping. He would dismiss everything insisting he didn't need anything else, but he started to feel empty. An immediate reasoning popped to mind; it was most likely action and excitement he was missing, but how could you get them things in your life without a challenger?

"You've got to have your eye on one of them Yosaku!" Johnny said laughing and patting his friend on the shoulder. They were walking ahead of Zoro and had apparently been talking all the time Zoro's mind wondered. He would normally join in, but he decided to just listen to their banter to see what they got out of life.

"More than one I'd say! But they're all for Zoro!" He said chuckling.

"Yeah I know what you mean! Hey Zoro!" Johnny called patting him on the back now. "What does it take to be such a stud?"

They both looked at him intently, mentally jotting notes. Zoro looked from one to the other, still not sure what they were talking about. "I…Uh…What?"

They both laughed slightly, but got glared at by Zoro. They knew they were pushing their luck so didn't say anything. "We just want to know how to be like you! You have all of them gagging for you after all!" Yosaku said cheerily.

"All of who?" Zoro's head was now spinning from the conversation; he still remained clueless as to what they were talking about.

The men restrained their laughter. "The girls!" Johnny laughed casually, hoping Zoro wouldn't smack him into next week.

"Eh? Why do I care?" Zoro said angrily. He felt his anger rising. "They're all just a bunch of squealing idiots!"

Zoro shut up immediately. He didn't like to reveal a lot of things he felt or what he thought about subjects as pathetic as that. Johnny and Yosaku looked stunned from what he had said. Not only had he insulted all the women in the tribe, he had revealed how he felt about something. Sure it wasn't much but it was more than they expected in a lifetime.

"So, do you ever plan to settle down in the future?" Yosaku asked before he could stop himself. He was shocked by his own words, but even more shocked to find he hadn't been whacked. Zoro just kept on walking, remaining silent and looking blankly.

In truth, Zoro didn't know how to answer. He never thought about it before, and never expected to have to answer it. He chose to remain blank, and pretend he didn't hear him.

Without warning, a huge black cloud covered the sky behind them. It came from the Mountain where upon the two doctors live. He remembered the trip to see them like it was yesterday. They knew exactly who he was the moment he set foot in the little cave they called home. The small reindeer looked amazed to see him, as little stars floated around his head. The long nosed man looked terrified though. They were quite refreshing, personality wise.

But this strange black cloud intrigued him. He wanted to call off the hunt and go check the area out, but he hadn't hunted in a while and his 'brothers' were generally scared of the ominous cloud.

It suddenly struck harsh into the earth and then slowly diminished into nothing. Zoro was stunned at witnessing it. Not only did it appear and disappear at incredible speed, it only adorned the small mountain mid region.

* * *

They had been hunting for fifteen minutes, when Zoro got lost from his comrades. He walked around mindlessly thinking of the strange cloud again. It was so strange an occurrence. He knew that people would be watching the area in case a so-called 'attack' could be plotted against the Shimo tribe.

Zoro retained his blank expression, though the corners of his mouth dipped in disappointment. He didn't believe in a pointless war over nothing. Lots of innocent people would fall victim to it and he wouldn't admit it out loud, but his village did mean a lot to him. He didn't care much for running it, but still called it home all the same.

He kept on walking some time later until he heard a scream and a splash. His footsteps slowed to a stop, and his hands unfolded to rest by his side, or rather across the top of his swords. Curiosity won out and he followed the sound and heard shouting from a woman's voice some distance away.

_Stupid women! Coming into this forest unprepared and screaming. _He didn't know why, but his legs carried him to the source of the disruption. He noticed a woman struggling in the water, trying to make it to the surface and then seen a little trace of blood left in her wake.

He was about to jump in (heaven forbid that impulse) when he noticed her swimming to the edge safely.

She climbed out tiredly, her head hung forward as if it were a heavy burden and let the water flow off her. It ran down her tired face and off her bright orange hair. He didn't think he had seen her in the village, but then again he didn't take much notice of the women who followed him all the time.

She crawled a little and collapsed, exhaling softly before she started to breathe again.

"O-Oi!" He called, unsurely. When she didn't move, he walked over to her then stopped and glared at the water as three men emerged. They looked at him and their faces dropped from the smug smiles they once adorned.

He simply glared at them, getting the message that they were harassing the woman.

"Gonna tell me what you did to her?"

"We just took a little cut! She ain't yours!" They retorted unsurely.

"Is she yours?" He replied smartly. He wasn't quite sure why he was sticking up for her. He should have just left her there... then again, he wasn't quite as heartless as even he believed.

"She'll belong to the boss!" He yelled back.

"I don't appreciate being yelled at." He said darkly, his tone threatening enough to cause the men panic. They turned and tried to run away, but he was too quick; in less than a heartbeat, he'd already appeared behind them, and struck them each in the pressure point in the back of their neck, letting their bodies fall into the water. No doubt they'd drift downstream.

His attention returned to the orange haired woman. He walked over and turned her soaked body over so she was resting limply in his arm. He used his other hand to push her wet hair to her ear and trace her face's bone structure. He didn't know why he was so freely stroking some stranger but it made his skin tingle from the contact with her soft skin. She was... pretty. Was that even right? It didn't sound right in his mind; he hadn't called a woman anything other than a nuisance.

"Nami!" Another woman called, approaching his direction and fast. He placed her back down and ran off into the forest, hoping to find Johnny and Yosaku or follow their voices.

Just before making it out of earshot he heard a lighter voice gasp the same name as the other. "Nami!"

_Nami huh? _He thought smirking. He slowed down and found himself mindlessly wondering throughout the forest. _Blech, women are all the same. Still, mindlessly walked in Oni-Mori is a first. _

He tried to dismiss the woman's image from his head, but to no avail. She had a different, cute sort of beauty aside from the heavily made girls in the village.

He walked a further ten minutes, beating up a few of wild animals and dragging their carcasses with him until he heard familiar voices.

"Aniki!" They yelled simultaneously.

Mentally sighing, he headed over to the direction of the sound and found them standing with two dead animals each. He looked down at the five bodies of meat he had gathered and shrugged. They all headed back to the village in silence until he spoke up.

"Is there a girl in our village called Nami?" He asked. He almost smacked his mouth shut as the words left his tongue. He didn't mean to shout it out loud, or bring her up to them.

"Ah! So you _are _interested in women!?" Yosaku yelled happily.

"What does that mean?!" He shouted back. Had they thought him...? No, surely not!

"N-Nothing!" They both called in sync.

"Well?" he asked again impatiently; he might as well get an answer now that he had embarrassed himself.

"W-Well what?" Johnny asked.

"I there a woman named Nami in the village!?" He yelled, turning shark like, but feeling very embarrassed afterwards.

"AH! I don't know names! I only know Suzu, Robin and Kimi!" Yelled Johnny saluting.

Yosaku imitated Johnny and shouted, "I only know Suzu, Ayame and Sana's name!"

Zoro sighed and rubbed his temple, "You don't need to shout… and what's with the saluting?"

* * *

They finally made it to the tribe. It was still sunny and the warm atmosphere made the three brothers sweat profusely. Once they were inside the village they froze to the spot with wide eyes, for all of the hopeful young women of the village were gathered in a group in front of them, eagerly awaiting their return.

"Zoro-sama!" They screamed and squealed jumping in the air or whistling at him. He pulled a sickening face at the sight and wondered why they weren't running towards them like usual. He noticed that in front of all the women stood _her…_

She was a tall, well figured woman with dark brown hair that was tatted, but all the same it was supposedly sexy. She had full lips and dark focused eyes which pierced straight into the swordsman. Her fur bra-like top clung to decent sized breasts and matched her loin cloth, which barely covered her curvy butt. She stood with her hands on her hips, putting on a sexy smile in hope of catching Zoro's eye. It worked.

She was known to be quite attractive, definitely the best in the village, but she was just another air-head who would squirm and plead for his embrace. His thoughts wouldn't stop wondering to the cute red-head whom he had saved earlier. She would never know this though… unless…

"Zoro-S-a-m-a!" She said in an attempt to seduce him. All the other girls glared at the woman but wouldn't dare fight for the position she held. Her father was close to the chief and hoping she would be the one to catch the young son's eyes. "Where have you been all morning? We were getting worried…" She pouted strutting over to him.

She was clearly in control of the girl group and refused to let them cross a certain point. "It has nothing to do with you, so go pester someone who gives shit," He said coldly receiving a few giddy giggles from the women in front of him.

She didn't know how to handle the rejection so she carried on. "Aw, don't be like that! We may be married soon, if our fathers talk more of it." She smiled at him now face to face, and placed her hands on his chest gently and looked him in the eyes. "Be glad you don't have to marry the daughter or Coco. I hear she is pretty dull and weak. Nowhere near as beautiful as me."

Zoro panicked looking over to Johnny and Yosaku for help, but they were in a love state with hearts in their eyes and jaws opened to the floor. He made note to discipline them later as he pushed her away by the arms and sprinted in the opposite direction, leaving them all behind.

It took a few, silent moments for the group to realise he had just ran.

He carried on sprinting and looked back to notice the whole group chasing him with smiles and loved up eyes. He grimaced at the sight but knew they had a decent map of the village in their heads. Zoro didn't even have any directional sense, not that he'd admit it of course.

He kept running until he came to a tall hut on which he jumped upon. He turned around knowing that the girls weren't good when it came to jumping. They stood pitifully gawking at him hands in the air in an attempt to reach him.

Turning to walk away, he paused and remembered the woman in the forest. Skimming the crowds of girls beneath him, the only two that had the same hair colour either had a continuous eyebrow and several spots or warts and buck teeth. Not all the women were as beautiful as the in-training seductress Suzu.

He noticed she was staring at him with wild eyes from the back of the crowd, arms folded. She clearly wasn't happy that he was surveying the women below. It seemed like he was actually considering them, for once.

"He's looking at us!" Some shouted.

Others yelled, "Kya! Pick me!"

Or "I'll marry you! Choose me!"

"He's choosing!"

Zoro had enough of the pathetic women who ruined his naps, training sessions and freedom. He scowled at them and yelled, "As if I would!"

He jumped down the opposite side of the building and ran into Shimo-Mori. He kept running until he found the stream at the far side of the vast forest. He decided to wash up, as all the running made him quite sticky.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

When Nami woke up, her hand shot to her head in a vain attempt to sooth the gentle pounding. She was still in the forest, shivering beside the lake except now it was getting darker and a small fire was lit beside her. She could feel its warmth creeping closer.

She leaned up and noticed a worried looking Robin and Vivi, talking quietly eating a fried fish which they'd stabbed ruthlessly with a twig.

"What happened?" She called wearily, alerting the girls of her consciousness.

"Nami!"

"Good to see you're well, Nami-san" Robin smiled.

"It was crazy!" Vivi began, barely able to contain her rush of words, "They carried on chasing us until they heard their men yell from where you were. They headed back and left us alone so we followed to find you! But you were just lying there. I'm so glad they didn't take you!" Vivi said without taking a breath.

"There were three of them after me… They grabbed me in the water and cut my leg… Why did they just leave" She thought out loud looking down to her leg. Her friends had put a leaf covered in a strong smelling substance over her deep cut. It stung like hell as the harsh pain drew her back into reality. "Ouch!"

"Maybe they seen an animal and got scared." Vivi thought.

"No, it would have attacked Nami and she's fine, except for the cut she received from those men," Robin said with a hand to her chin, thinking deeply.

"Maybe they got called back," Nami asked thoughtfully.

"Then why didn't they take you and why yell about it!" Vivi yelled in a fluster. Out of the three, Vivi was the most likely to handle the situation badly. Nami could already see the panic in her eyes as she averted them to look around them and then to the blackened sky only visible above the lake.

"No wait," Nami whispered, suddenly remembering something before she passed out. She was unable to forget the feeling of a presence, like someone watching her. "There was someone else here"

"Who? Who would come out here?" Vivi asked.

"There may have been a hunter," Robin said, "We'll find out tomorrow, let's get some sleep."

"A hunter? What kind of hunter comes to Oni-Mori?"

"A brave one! How heroic!" Vivi chimed lying down on her side to face the others.

Nami couldn't sleep. She was exhausted from the running and being dragged under the water, but she was trying to remember any details about the presence. She assumed it was one of the gang but how had they made it across the lake so fast? And why leave her when they made their intentions clear? Eventually her eyes drooped, succumbing to sleep; she dreamed of a figure, standing over her protectively.

* * *

His thoughts wondered to the red-head again as he bathed in the stream.

She wore a tiger-skin, two piece outfit. The top curved over her huge ample breasts and complimented her skin tone very well. Where a normal girl would wear a loin cloth, in order to show off their assets as much as possible, she wore more of a skirt, or rather a wrapped around cloth, with a slit showing her leg. Definitely different to the other women around, and her face's features were beautiful. Not to mention the fact she was soaked, which made her skin and nose shimmer.

He wondered why she wasn't in the crowd of girls, but was happy she wasn't. It must have meant she wasn't the usual air-head, after any man that crossed her path. He wondered if she was already married, but dismissed the thought as he clenched his fists violently. He hadn't remembered her in the village, so he lowered his results down to some possible options.

_She is a loner, doesn't like company_

_She is an outsider, who lives in the forest_

_She spends most of her time out of the village, which would explain why I have never seen her before_

_She is a traveller_

_She is from the Coco tribe_

He began to worry at the last option, thinking of the trouble it would cause if he seen her again. He dismissed the thought, remembering the villagers talk of Coco village's population being pathetic cowards. She wouldn't have been in the forest if that were the case. But then he remembered she was getting chased by the gang that roams in both villages.

He ended up siding with the choices that she was a traveller, outcast or spends her time out of the village. After all, her friends were shouting of her so she couldn't be a loner. This made him grin.

But the grin promptly fell. Why care in the first place. He definitely wouldn't see her again, and even if he did, disappointment would only well up inside of him. He couldn't assume anything about her other than the obvious, so for now, he was forced to assume she was like those mindless women in the village.

Once he felt he wasn't sticky anymore, he climbed out of the lake and wrapped his ragged animal skin around his waist. He didn't feel the need to have a poncho over his shoulders. Besides, it was too hot in recent days.

He began to roam the forest when he heard voices calling for him. He ran over to a tree to hide, and then realized it was safe when Johnny and Yosaku came out into the clearing.

He sighed and walked out into the open. "Yeah what?"

"Aniki! The girls gave up now, so it's safe to go back!" Yosaku said waving his arms about through his explanation.

"Yeah, besides it's getting pretty dark!"

"Lead the way," He commanded whilst yawning. Zoro remembered he had missed out on his nap because of the fuss the girls caused. _Damn bitches!_

That night Zoro dreamed of the events that happened earlier in the day. He dreamt of saving the same red-head, but this time he wasn't disturbed when he held her in his arm. No voices came, and time seemed to stand still as he gently traced her jaw line and then her lips. Only when he reached her lips, he couldn't feel her touch. He tried to trace them but felt nothing.

He started to panic and then woke up in a flash. Why couldn't he feel her lips? It was like he was touching the air. There was no feeling expect his heart beating rapidly, desperate for a sensation to rush through his veins. Nothing came though…

_Stupid woman! Why do I even care about her? She's a stranger! _He cursed in his head.

Suddenly, an idea spread through his mind. It would work, surely, and take his mind away from her and back onto important matters in life, like sleeping. His plan was to venture back into the forest to find her again and prove to himself how much of a hopeless, invalid she was and how she was no different to the other air heads in the village.

He grinned evilly at the plan to rid her image from his mind, but never thought of the consequences. What if she was just that? The tiny flicker of hope that built up inside him would diminish leaving his mind free to wonder about nothingness.

He still had to go through with it. Her image was beginning to annoy him.

* * *

She woke up lazily to the sound of the stream flowing rapidly next to her. The morning air filled her lungs with a damp sensation causing her to cough violently. She leaned up and greedily lapped up the forest's scenery.

It wasn't as scary as the rumours had said. It was peaceful in fact. Birds chirped from up above and sang beautiful melodies enough to make you smile on the worst of days.

She looked around to notice Robin and Vivi were still sound asleep. A lucky feeling overwhelmed her as she stared at the two girls who followed her happily.

It was her treat today; she stood up and headed out into the forest to catch some food. She wondered into the huge trees and came across an apple tree. She looked up into the tree and examined the juicy red apples.

Unhooking the perfect clima tact from her leg, she connected it and proceeded in twirling it around her fingers and hands. Then, she threw it into the air and knocked several apples from the branch. She picked them up with a grin and headed back to put them by her friends for when they woke.

She headed upstream to catch some fish next, looking forward to the fun. She enjoyed her methods of fishing, especially when there was someone to laugh with her. But this time she was doing it as a thank you to her friends for sticking with her when she was injured. As rubbish as she was at catching them; she still found it hilarious.

She made sure the others were still in sight, but not too far away in case they were attacked. She didn't want to wake them either so she had to stay a distance away.

She stepped into the water and slowly walked over to the centre. She stopped in the middle and rolled up her skirt so that her butt was almost showing. She bent her legs and slowly dipped her hands in to feel the water. As expected, the fish swam over and through her legs as she struggled to grab one.

She was drenched in water again, from the huge struggling fish.

"Ah!" She yelled falling backwards as she grasped a huge fish in her talons. She held the fish close to her chest and stood up quickly so as to run over to the river bank and put it down. She ran over, being drastically slowed in the water, and placed the fish on the side. She laughed and then looked over to her sleeping friends to notice two men staring down at them.

Her heart caught in her throat.

* * *

He ran over to the hut and walked in intrusively. It was early in the morning, but his mind wouldn't rest until he searched that forest. But he needed their help. After all, he wasn't the best person to ask for directions. He'd have to swallow his pride.

"Wake up, we're going into the forest again," he called, nudging the two bodies in the gut.

"W-What? Why?" Johnny yawned.

"I need to," was all he replied.

After the two got changed, they headed out to the forest and began to walk to the stream he was at yesterday. They didn't bother asking why he was so eager in case he pounded them into the ground.

"So- what are we hunting?" Johnny asked curiously. He had a feeling they weren't really hunting anything, but it could be the only way of getting Zoro to tell them anything.

"Nothing"

_Plan failed_

They carried on in silence when they heard the familiar sound of a stream flowing. Zoro took off in a jog/run and the two left behind stared in confusion at him. He stopped when he noticed the stream and two sleeping women with raven and blue hair. He sighed angrily, realizing it wasn't her.

Johnny and Yosaku caught up and watched Zoro as he sat over by a tree with his arms behind his head. A bored expression over took his face as he sat deep in thought.

The other two walked over to the sleeping women and stared down, confused at their presence and how agitated Zoro became because of them. Why were they out there in the middle of a dangerous forest, sleeping no less? Did they not know the kinds of beasts in here.

Zoro closed his eyes for a moment until he heard screams coming from a little distance away. He looked over and his eyes widened as he noticed the who was running towards them with an angry look on her face. He couldn't move, he took in her huge brown eyes and how full of life they looked. He couldn't see her eyes the day before so he was entranced as he stared at them.

Nami took out her Clima tact and began to assemble it as she ran over to her friends.

"Leave them alone!" She yelled twirling her weapon effortlessly in her small feminine hands.

By the time Johnny looked up he felt impact to his skull and fell to the ground. She sat on his back and pulled his head up by his neck using her pole.

"Leave now and I won't hurt him!" She threatened quite convincingly. She didn't know what she was doing, but she knew it looked professional enough to scare them away.

Zoro sat there stunned. What the hell was she? Never had he seen a woman act like that before, and she looked so fierce. He didn't want his hunting buddy to get hurt so he took a gamble and continued to sit stubbornly.

She hadn't noticed him sitting there as he was perfectly still. Her gaze was fixed on Yosaku daring him to step forward and challenge her. She would use Thunder as a last resort.

"You wouldn't hurt him, besides we weren't going to do anything to them," Zoro said calmly, looking straight at her.

She looked over shocked at the third man's presence. He was so handsome and looked completely unaffected by her decision. She started to panic and worry was evident on her face. She didn't expect to have to fight three people, especially when the third looked so strong and a little scary.

Zoro was confused by her look. Her looks changed to becoming scared and worried. He noticed her look over to her friends and look back at him. He wanted to know how she behaved and what she was like when she smiled. This wasn't the way to go about it.

"How would you know I wouldn't hurt him," She feigned a dark voice, but she felt her body trembling.

Yosaku didn't know what to do so he charged at her and drew his ivory dagger. She looked over to him shocked and raised her pole to block him. It was now a test of power and it was clear who was going to win.

Nami collapsed onto her back by the side of Johnny who was coughing from the strain released on his neck. Yosaku was now straddling her pushing his dagger against her pole.

"W-Whoa! Stop, Yosaku!" Zoro yelled getting to his feet.

He looked over to Zoro like he had grown another eye. He didn't question his intentions but he stood up put away his weapon and walked over to stand near Johnny.

"What do you want?" She yelled at them.

"Nothing" Zoro said smugly.

"We just happened to stumble upon you guys. Why are you camping out here?" Johnny asked, rubbing his neck sorely.

Nami was unsure of them so she slowly placed her weapon to her side, feigning trust. She had made her way over by her two friends who were now awake and staring wide eyed at the men.

"We had to!" She yelled.

"Because you got injured yesterday?" Zoro asked.

She looked over shocked and slowly began to process the information. She decided to test to see if they were a real threat.

"Oh?" She raised her hands mockingly to her shoulders and gave a smug smile. "How would you know that? Perhaps you witnessed it? Maybe you even… helped out a little?" She grinned at the obvious look on his face.

He had finally seen her smile. Okay so it wasn't a cute smile like he expected. She looked rather smug for figuring out he had saved her. But she was still smiling. He kind of liked her spunky attitude and how daring she was being.

"Nami-san?" Robin questioned standing next to her friend.

Vivi copied her and stood on her other side. "Nami, what's going on?" She questioned.

Johnny and Yosaku were cautious of Zoro. No one had attempted to wind him up before or even succeeded since he beat them or gave them an intense stare as a warning.

"A little?" He questioned raising an eyebrow. "That's how you give your thanks to your saviour?"

"I don't remember asking for your help," She retorted. She knew she needed it but she had to carry on testing his patience or at least find out if he had any intentions. "I wouldn't jump to saying saviour anyway. Saviours don't run away afterwards."

Zoro felt his eye twitch. He had never been stood up to nor had some stranger call him some sort of coward.

"I didn't run away"

"You didn't exactly stick around either"

Zoro felt anger rising in him; but this anger was different. He wanted to laugh and burst out in a comical rage to argue with her. But at the same time didn't want to lose his cool in front of Johnny and Yosaku.

Johnny whispered to Yosaku, "Hey, he didn't mention he saved some girl," He paused to stare at Nami, before adding, "Especially not someone _that _cute."

"Yeah I know. Is that the reason why he came back here?" He replied.

Nami obviously heard this and began to smile. She wanted to laugh out loud but she felt the urge to tease the man who was now glaring over at his friends.

She walked over with a grin staring at Zoro. He didn't know what to expect. Normally a girl, like Suzu, would waddle over and place their hands on his chest 'innocently' and look up like some sort of lost puppy. This would make his mind up to see if she was just like any other girl. He studied her carefully.

Shock overwhelmed him when she walked over casually and placed an arm across his back, standing beside him. It was like she was hugging him like a chum; a ritual between guy friends who just cracked a joke and wanted to laugh closely to show their bonds.

"You don't say!" She said with a huge smirk. She began to poke him in the cheek, physically mocking him; even though she was standing as tall as she could to reach his shoulders. "Is that true saviour-kun!"

The guys couldn't believe how daring she was being around him. She clearly didn't know who he was or she didn't care. They were frozen to the spot at her actions afraid to be disintegrated by Zoro's deathly stare. But when they looked over his face showed pure shock.

"What's the matter?" She asked after his silence took hold of everyone. "Cat got your tongue?" She teased, in a different way to all the other girls he knew.

Johnny and Yosaku now feared for their lives. They imagined that later they would be burned alive and then dealt out for the village to eat, from simply being the ones he'd take his anger out on. That is of course, if he didn't take it out on her, like he would normally do.

Zoro took in the statement and carefully examined her features along with her cute smirk. She did resemble a cat; her huge eyes, small playful lips and even her cute nose. Everything suggested she looked feline.

Robin and Vivi were only able to gawp in a tense manner. She'd either lost it or she was brave; the first seemed more realistic. The man clearly looked dangerous, yet she willingly strode over to mock and tease him. They expected nothing less from their friend, but were still stunned all the same. They began to laugh realizing the man didn't know Nami and what she was like. The scene was just perfect and they looked cute together… which they would inform her on later.

Zoro snapped his hand to slap Nami's away who opened her eyes to look at him. "Oi"

She had studied his behaviour. It was clear he hadn't been treated like that before and didn't know how to react so she left it alone so he wouldn't hurt her if he had the intension. She was still unsure of him.

When she began to walk away Zoro instinctively pulled out his Katana and wrapped it around her neck. His body reacted on its own as it pulled her back so he leaned down by her ear.

"What makes you think I won't hurt you," He said smirking down at her. She was shocked by his actions but as she gazed into his eyes after turning her head to face him she replied.

"You won't hurt me"

"Oh? What makes you think that?" He was now intrigued as the small woman's eyes looked him back showing no fear.

"Your eyes tell a different story than that of which your mouth speaks," She replied a little tartly, yet smiled all the same. This was a genuine smile, the one he longed for. She was truly a beauty in his eyes. Unlike any other girl he had ever met. He didn't think there were girls like her.

She playfully pushed his sword away from her neck using her bare finger trustingly. He sheathed his sword and carried on looking at her with a disgruntled expression, frozen to the spot.

She carefully picked up an apple and threw it over to him with a grin, as he caught it and looked questioningly at her. "Thanks 'Saviour-kun'" She laughed.

She took the rest of the apples and handed a couple to each of the women and walked downstream.

He watched her walk away until she was out of sight, then he greedily took a bite of the apple. He took in her scent when he held her close. Her hair had the scent of oranges and stream water and it lingered in his nose.

"A-Aniki?" Yosaku questioned scared. "We should," He paused "Go do the thing... you know… the thing you wanted to do?"

Zoro glared at him, knowing his game. "We've already done it and you know it," He answered walking past them and into the trees.

"Ah, yes Aniki!" He replied tensing up as he passed. When he looked up at Zoro's expression, he expected a scowl with his eyes burning and teeth clenching. Yet he looked neutral, except for the little smirk in the corner of his mouth.

They followed his silently, not wanting to ruin his good mood; God knew they were rare.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

Nami, Vivi and Robin continued in silence. They walked through the wild trees and berry bushes until Vivi broke the uncomfortable silence.

"What happened?" She asked

"I was fishing and I turned around and seen them standing above you. I panicked and attacked them," She laughed a little.

"He seemed to enjoy your company, Nami" Robin chuckled watching the red head face glow.

"D-Don't be silly! I don't even know him!"

"He saved you! How romantic! He was so handsome too! You guys should meet again!" Vivi said excitedly to Nami, nudging her side.

"Yeah he was- Wait! Meet again?" Nami said facing her friend. "He could be a psycho for all I know!"

"It could be fate… how thrilling…" Robin concluded.

"F-Fate? Not you too Robin!?" She whined.

The three girls took off laughing and arguing until they came to the forests edge and spotted their village in the distance.

They all smiled and ran towards the village, glad to be able to go home. Once they entered, the whole village was gathered around the spot her father used for meetings and speeches. They walked to the back of the crowd and heard her father yelling over the rows of people.

"She didn't come back yesterday and her friends are nowhere to be seen either!" He yelled.

They took this time to notice Vivi's father was standing with Robin's mother behind them. They looked worried and upset.

"Do they mean us?" Robin asked.

"Father!" Nami waved and yelled over the crowd. They all turned to look at her and parted down the middle as she made her way to the front with her friends.

"Nami?" He questioned wide eyed. He ran down the crowd and grabbed her in his arms. It was the first time she had gone missing from the village and naturally everyone was concerned.

The same happened when Robin and Vivi's parents ran towards them. They hugged and muttered in their ears about how they shouldn't run off and how scared they were.

Sure, they had gone camping before or slept out in the woods for a few days, but they always warned people so as not to cause panic.

Her father stepped back and looked her up and down. He noticed her cut leg and how mucky her clothes were. She had grazes and muck all over her skin.

"What happened?" He questioned. He was holding back a mixture of anger, curiosity, relief and sadness.

"We were chased into Oni-Mori by that gang," She said panting. She was exhausted and out of breath from all the running.

"Damn, we have to take action!" He shouted to the villagers. Nami saw a chance to mend the war in all this.

"We should join forces with the Shimo tribe to prevent things like this! They are allies not the enemy! If we joined forces…"

"We will not join forces because they do not wish to! It was them who started this war from sheer greed!" He bellowed making Nami jump and look away.

"If you just talked with them…!"

"They do not wish to listen!"

"You…" She started to break down into tears. "You won't even try!"

"N-Nami?" said Vivi looking on in shock.

"If you won't then… then…" She was sobbing hysterically now. "Then I will!" She yelled. Running away from her father's grip, she ventured out of the village and began to sprint towards the Shimo tribe.

She couldn't prevent her body from shaking. Of course she was terrified but she didn't want to think about herself right now. Her people were more important. The people she loved most.

They would always greet her with a smile. She didn't know half of them, yet she loved them and their courage. If it got to it, she would even sacrifice her freedom, body and mind to them. The things she desperately held on to.

* * *

Zoro and his comrades had just made it out of the forest around sun down. They got lost a few times thanks to Zoro, but Johnny took over and led them back to the village. When they got there all seemed quiet and the villagers got on with their daily routines.

Johnny and Yosaku waved Zoro off and went back to their hut. His mind was swimming with thoughts of her.

He expected, and partially hoped, she was like the other girls he had met. She surprised him with her fearless, thoughtful words and turned his opinion around. He wanted her to be nothing to him, but he was becoming intoxicated with everything about her, for what little he did know.

Her smile was what lingered in his mind the most. It wasn't seducing or dumb. It wasn't fake or even meaningful. It was just a simple, beautiful smile, one he had never seen or dared to dream of. He was hooked.

Because of this, it would be harder to concentrate on anything at all. His swords could become dull and useless. He needed to know her though; he wanted to know everything about her. He wanted to be close to her, to know her. It was all but a forlorn fantasy.

He stopped and took in his surroundings. Through thought, his travels had led him to the edge of the village. He was facing the vast, dry land that separated the two rival villages, when there was a loud explosion that shook the earth and sent moans through the valley. A woman's scream could be heard from across the plains, but he couldn't make out what the cries were.

He looked out across the grounds until his eyes fell on Mount Hayashi, where a black smoke was rising from the earth and a fire was rapidly spreading across the trees like a plague. Animals of all kinds ran from the small wooded area surrounding the mountain, yelping or calling out. They ran for everywhere in sight, which included the villages.

Zoro watched them as they split in groups and ran towards both villages in fear. They were chaotic, unknowing what to do so they turned their attention on the villagers of the tribes.

He ran off to meet them and began to cut them down so as to protect his village. Many other men came with various weapons and mimicked their leader's son, slashing down any wolves or packs that came their way.

Blood began to mark the air travelling into the village, making the people become wary and panicked. The sounds of cries once again echoed through the small stone huts and more men came to the front line to battle away the wolves.

Zoro turned as he heard cries of pain and noticed several of the men from the village being savagely bitten by the packs of stampeding animals. Eventually their bodies lay motionless and the beasts stepped over them and headed for the village. There was now an open gap in the defensive line that had been formed and the animals found their way to this point.

* * *

Nami looked up as soon as the explosion occurred. She looked frightened and panicked so she raised her arms to grip her hair releasing some fear.

"USOPP! CHOPPER!" She screamed.

Her friends resided in the cave just above the fired area but the flames were spreading through the trees and along the grounds heading straight for her friend's home. Her body trembled and she thought her heart stopped when she seen hundreds of animals leaving the forest in a desperate run.

They headed for both of the villages except a small group which headed straight for her. She looked back at the village and tried to shout to warn them of the attack she was muffled by the sound of the animal's howls.

Packs of wolves, hyenas, lions, tiger, antelope and zebra ran in all directions, but the main predators headed for the villagers. Her attention now turned to the wild animals, which were headed for her. She whipped out her Clima Tact and assembled it.

Just then, two animals jumped for her, readying to land with her on her back. She swung her weapon around catching one in the side and throwing him into the other. She narrowly avoided the second, landing huge scratch down her right shoulder. She fell backwards and raised her weapon above her head preparing for the next hyena to land above her.

As it did she raised her legs to collide with its stomach and send it flying backwards. She rolled and stood up twirling her clima tact around her fingers. Lightening shot through the ends of the pole in preparation for the next attack. The two hyenas that attacked her first had now stood up limping or wobbling slightly but focused their attention on her.

The first hyena carried on circling her whilst limping and the second charged at her angrily. It bore its teeth and pounced for her stomach but she smacked it with her pole and sent shocks through its body leaving it lifeless and contorted. As she had swung for the animal the third jumped for her leg and bit down hard causing blood to flow from her thigh.

"Gyaaa!" She cried falling to the floor clumsily. She looked around and jabbed it with her stick making its body jolt violently and fall down like the first.

Pain seared through her leg and blood flowed down her lower body, the cut from her shoulder to above her breast had also run down her stomach. She looked over to the third hyena, which was now joined by a fourth, which curiously stared at Nami's flowing blood. They stood over her and sniffed at her leg hungrily; letting saliva trickle down their chins.

* * *

The woman screamed and ran through Shimo village clutching her brother, a new born baby in her arms. She was running hysterically around the stone huts until she came face to face with another tiger. It was walking slowly towards her, purposefully glaring her into submission and then staring at the prize in her arms.

She screamed loudly for help then turned to notice the other had caught up. She was stuck between the crevasses of two stone huts and blocked off by two tigers, which were closing in on her. She knelt to the floor and clung to her baby, using her body as a shield and closing her eyes shut tightly.

Zoro leaped at one of the two tigers and run his katana through its neck, leaving it to bleed motionless. He ran past the young woman and slashed at the second, which had begun to advance on him. After both were down he turned and noticed the woman had a small bleeding scar on her arm.

She looked up at him teary eyed and ran over to him, expecting to be embraced. He, however, held his arm out to stop her then lead her into a larger hut to hide in the underground dig out. He found it sickening that the women still found time to wallow in his presence when her villagers were being slaughtered and she was holding an infant. She only had a small graze of a cut.

Once he had gave her a push into the hut he stepped back out and ran through more houses. He had cleared up most of the loose animals and decided to leave the rest to the other men in the village. He headed back to the open plain when he heard a scream.

Looking out into the dark night air, he scanned the dry land which were stained in blood and littered with bodies to notice a young woman in the centre of the land. There were several beasts surrounding her, but what got him running frantically was her vibrant red hair.

Whilst he ran towards her he never broke the contact his eyes had on her. She was now lying on the floor with another beast above her. He grinned a little when he seen her fight it off and swing at the others. Confusion took hold when the metal pole she held sent blue waves to the ends and left one of the hyena limp.

His legs broke out into a sprint when he seen a hyena advance on her from behind and latch onto her bare leg. The blood started to flow from her thigh and she struck the attacker with another electrical charge. Now two hyenas were left and were sniffing at the weakened girl.

She thought she was going to die. The only energy she had left was the adrenaline coursing through her veins. The savages were now licking the blood off her legs, not making moves to bare their teeth. She felt she couldn't lift her clima tact but when memories and thoughts of her loveable friends filled her mind, she instead lifted her fist to collide with the head of the animal. She was proud of the effect it had on it, when it keeled and fell to the floor. She managed to momentarily stop it, but if she was determined to see her friends were okay, she needed rid of these animals.

Letting her thoughts and feeling give her strength she made it onto her knees and charged her clima tact into the fallen hyena's body. When she was about to strike the second, which leapt for her head, she came face to face with the tip of a sharpened blade, covered with blood. The smell drifted up her nostrils making her wince and look up cautiously to the man who stood above her breathing heavily.

Her vision was blurred a little but she managed to make out a strong body and green hair. She smiled when she remembered her 'saviour' and began to chuckle lightly.

"Well, well," She struggled to say "We meet again."

Zoro's amazement for this woman never ceased to grow. She had the deepest bite wound he had ever witnessed and large claw marks down her shoulder. Not to mention the cut she had sustained from the first time he had seen her.

She pushed down on her hands to lift up and brought her legs up straight. She looked him in the eye regaining a bit of her vision and laughed again.

_She isn't even crying like that girl. Maybe she has been worse off than this… that girl hadn't been._

"You manage to look like that and still laugh?" He questioned. He had offered a hand for her to use when she stood up but had simply laughed at him.

"I'm not _that _weak…" Her eyes opened widely when she noticed the fire wasn't stopping. Her heart beat loudly and her legs carried her with all the energy she could muster. She began to run and stumble towards the fire.

Zoro turned to follow her, amazed. He wondered why she was running towards the fire and how she could possibly stop the flames.

"U-Usopp! Chopper! Answer me!" she yelled, her voice crackling.

Zoro looked around to scan the area and returned his gaze to her when he heard nothing. Curiously watching her when she assembled the pole that clung to her other leg, he wondered what she was thinking.

She began to spin the pole around her hands with great difficulty, letting little coloured balls rise to the sky.

Zoro didn't understand what she was doing but looked amazed when he noticed a huge black cloud above them. She shot one more ball to the sky and then shouted, "Rain tempo!"

Zoro looked up in disbelief as a hard rain enveloped the wooded area and calmed the flames until they vanished. She ran again and shouted of their names while he followed.

She hadn't realized he was still following her and assumed he had gone back to the village or where ever he lived. She thought she ran alone.

"Nami!" A little voice wailed.

"Chopper! Where are you?!" She screamed a smile taking her lips.

"We're over here!" Another voice yelled in pain.

"Usopp!" She followed the voices until she came to an unaffected area. The fire hadn't reached that far yet and Chopper had Usopp leaning against a tree with a severe burn across his arm.

Chopper rubbed a sticky, clear gel over the top of his burn as he complained and they smiled when Nami came into view. "Nami!" Chopper yelled happily.

Usopp and Chopper stood up quickly and ran towards her with their arms open. Nami ran over and hugged them tightly. She began to sob into their shoulders.

"Thank god! I thought… I thought you were," She wailed leaning into them.

"Nami? Are you crying?" Usopp asked worried. "You never cry!"

She laughed and replied. "Tell anyone and I'll kill you." Usopp cringed at this but laughed anyway.

"Z-Zoro?" Chopper called, looking behind Nami with bewildered, wide eyes.

"Zoro?" She asked turning around and realizing he had never left her. She suddenly felt really embarrassed and wiped her eyes turning red slightly.

"So Zoro is your n…" Nami had just realized the pain and blood loss she suffered. She fell backwards to be caught by a strong grip and drifted off into darkness.

_Geez, she really pushed herself. She only cried for her friend's sake? What was with that rain cloud she summoned?_

He lifted her up in both hands and looked over to the two men. He had seen them all hugging and had become a little jealous of the human one. He wondered what their relationship was, and if they were involved, why him? He wasn't exactly a heartbreaker to get such a beauty.

He held her bridal style and asked, "We should leave the area before people come searching for an explanation to why the fire was caused."

The two nodded and picked up their bags or belongings. Zoro lead them, surprisingly, in the right direction towards the plains. He ran down the centre with the others following and entered Oni-Mori.

He stopped suddenly to turn and question as to why the others stopped when he saw their legs shaking violently. He decided to make them feel guilty enough to enter the forest.

"She fought off three hyenas at once, ran with these injuries, summoned a rain cloud and cried for you because of her worry. She could die unless we go in here for shelter and treat her somehow." He said with a monotone voice. He stared at the others who looked down and then continued to run; apparently it had worked.

Five minutes later they came across a small cave, which was perfect to take shelter in, and set Nami down upon some blankets Usopp carried with him. She was getting colder and her breathing had slowed down dangerously low.

"Zoro, please… go get some green herbs with red petal flowers. They should be around the bottom of any tree." Chopper called out to Zoro teary eyed.

"Wh-"

"I'm the doctor so go! You want to save her too right?" Chopper asked. He paused realizing what he said then he began to wonder how the children of each villages head chief knew each other and were cool about it.

"Whatever," He said walking out of the cave.

Chopper worked on the claw mark above Nami's chest. He cleaned it with some medicines and bandaged it with a leaf and sticky medicine. He cleaned her deep bite mark and grimaced at the thought of it puncturing her smooth skin.

Zoro reappeared with random plants in his hand, each one different from the next. He scratched his head awkwardly. "I… didn't know which one you meant so I got them all." He said sitting down beside Nami.

He stared at her calm face and looked to her leg. The bite mark was sickeningly deep but didn't look life threatening now that she was being taken care of. He watched Chopper crush and grind the plant with different tools and smooth it out over her thigh.

Zoro felt his face blush at this, but continued to stare at her legs. He raised his view to look at her face, which was now scrunched up cutely from the stinging pain through her leg. Once again, Chopper patted a bigger medicinal leaf on the cut to keep the ingredients from running or wearing off.

Zoro looked up to Usopp to see where he was gazing. Usopp carefully examined Choppers work and the rested against the cave wall closing his eyes. Zoro continued to stare at him deepening his gaze into a glare.

_Shit, why am I behaving like a stroppy child? He… Why is he staring at her like that? Damn it! Why is he holding her hand? Oh great, she's gripping it back… Asshole! _Zoro continued to watch Usopp, who was mindlessly supporting his friend unaware of the swordsman's death glare.

_What is it between them two? He's being so open. Does it mean they're together? _

He had resorted to grinding his teeth together to release some of his tension. Chopper had been watching him the whole time and partially knew the green haired man was jealous and curious of their relationship. Chopper stood up and walked past Zoro to reach Nami's head and sit by it. He placed his hoof on her head then held her other hand.

Zoro, of course, found this strange but reassuring when she gripped his back. "Nami, your best buddies are here with you. You'll be alright. Even Zoro's still here," Chopper said smiling at the red heads sleeping face.

Zoro looked at the reindeer and back at Nami. Her calm face broke into a small smile at the mention of his name, at which he blushed and felt his heart race. Chopper relaxed a little knowing Zoro wouldn't leave for whatever reason.

His dark eyes now looked at Chopper. _He did that on purpose to tell me they were just friends. Damn, how come I'm being open? Even a Tanuki can read me. Must train more…_

Zoro stood up and walked over to the wall to slide down it and close his eyes. Chopper's heart flipped when he seen him walk away but he sighed thankfully that he was staying. _Maybe the war will stop if they get together?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

The village was in a state of panic. All of the tribesmen ran through the village to gather the people and search for the wounded. Robin helped Vivi over to the gathered crowds with a limp and mentally started to skim all the young red heads. Vivi had a deep gash on her leg and looked pretty bruised. Robin had a few cuts and scrapes but altogether they were doing better than some of the villagers.

"I can't see her… Robin she isn't here!" Vivi said hysterically.

"Calm down, she'll be fine. She may be getting seen to," Robin said manoeuvring through the crowds like an expert.

When they made it to the front they looked up with pleading eyes at Nami's father, in hope that he would nod or give some reassurance to them. He looked down sadly and shook his head.

A man came over and led Vivi away from the crowds so he could examine her graze. Robin searched for her mother and Vivi's father so they could turn their worry onto Nami.

"Listen up my people! We must get to the bottom of the explosion and find out who is behind it! But before that, we have several missing people and a few unidentified bodies. We have had 14 deaths due to this incident and we must find the 23 missing people! One of which is my daughter." At this last part his voice broke into a soft murmur.

"Chief Genzo! We found two missing people by the names of Juliet and Sara! They were hiding in the woods together!" A man called from the side of the crowds.

Two older women in the crowds began to cry and make their way towards the man, thanking him in between tears. At that moment, a man with blonde hair covering his left eye stepped forward. He was the tribe's head chef and worked out the portioning for the village.

"I rescued three young women from a collapsed hut by the names of Tara-san, Riku-san and Hitomi-san." He said taking a small stick from his mouth and throwing it on the ground.

Robin smiled sweetly in his direction. She knew him to be a very trustworthy young man, who was quite the gentleman. However, he also had a reputation for womanizing. She walked over to Vivi, who had now been seen to, and took her to see the bodies which were covered up.

When they got there, the foul smell of dried blood and flesh was thrown over them like a blanket. There were pools of blood in different areas and some decapitated limbs lay in a pile to the side. The atmosphere, sight and smell combined made the two girls want to hurl.

They weakly marched over to the man who was washing the bodies and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

"Has anyone recognized Nami-san among them?" Robin asked sadly, glancing over the bodies.

"No, she isn't here. Anyone would recognize her if she was here. She has been written as a missing person. After all, she disappeared moments before it happened. Only…" The man stopped in mid sentence and looked away.

"Only what?" Vivi asked horrified.

"She went to talk with the other village remember? She couldn't have made it there in the amount of time it took for the explosion to go off. She must have been alone in the plains. There were sights of animals headed towards the centre. They… they could have…"

Robin cut him off before he could say anything more to affect them. Vivi was almost in tears and she felt her own heart sinking as he spoke. "She isn't weak. I'm sure she's fine! We will devise a search party for her, so no more talk like that." She said strongly. Her mother was a famous archaeologist in both villages as was Robin. If a person couldn't find something important, mainly ruins or ancient artefacts, they were the women for the job.

This gave confidence to Vivi and the man. They knew if Robin was on the job, she could find anything, no matter how small. Robin smiled triumphantly and walked Vivi away from the stench of the corpses.

"How are we going to find her with just us? We need help; there are still animals on the loose in the plains and forests…"

Robin turned to her blue-haired friend and smiled. "I had a certain person in mind," She replied.

They walked back to the area the blonde cook was in and found him giving attention to the wounded girls; they giggled and battered their eye lashes wildly at him until the two girls came over.

The girls of the village were known to be jealous of Nami, Robin and Vivi's looks and position in the village. Nami was the head woman of the tribe, seeing as though her mother passed away and she was the daughter of chief tribesman. Robin was a famous archaeologist and held a high position with her mother in the village's council and Vivi was the daughter of the general in the village, her father was known to be planning on defence and attack strategies in case the rival tribe advanced and he was Chief Genzo's best friend. Not to mention, all three girls were blessed with beauty, intelligence and pretty good fighting skills.

The dumb group of women grimaced when they approached and stole the blonde's attention from them. "Robin-chwan! Vivi-chwan! What brings you here?" He called wobbling over to them like an upright snake, his eyes full of love.

"Nami-san is marked under the missing persons of the village, she headed out to the plains when the attack happened and no one is brave enough to search out there." Robin explained plainly.

"We aren't warriors, Mr. Cook, so we need someone who's good with their feet to accompany us." Vivi smiled. Everyone knew Sanji was among the top fighters in the village and he only used his feet.

"I understand completely! Let's not waste any time!" Sanji called putting his arms around the girl's shoulders and walking them to the edge of the village.

* * *

The young, red beauty awoke startled, as the sun bounced off the cave walls, illuminating the damp, blackness. She rubbed her eyes and then gritted her teeth as pain shot through her leg. She couldn't feel her shoulder's wound as her chewed up leg's pain took the trophy.

She stood up and looked around the cave in search of a familiar face. She was alone.

"Chopper?" She called out softly. There was no reply. "U-Ah!-Usopp?" She tripped in mid sentence, causing her to stumble into a wall. She clung on and tried to get some feeling in her leg before she continued.

She walked with her hand on the cave wall for balance until she came outside. The little reindeer was sat against a tree facing the cave, mixing some ground herbs using a rock and a bowl.

"Chopper?" She yelled. He raised his head and immediately ran over to her, transforming into his human form.

"Nami! You shouldn't move around yet!"

"I want to sit outside, it's quite a bright area and it sounds beautiful! Let me sit outside Chopper, please!" She looked up to him with puppy eyes and he gave in and carried her over to the tree next to the one he was sat at.

He transformed back to his usual form and sat down next to his herbs. She closed her eyes and listened to all the details of the forest, the specific bird calls sounding around her; in the distance she could hear the faint trickle of water and the scurrying of little footsteps a few trees away. She smiled and opened her eyes to watch Chopper.

He had been watching her the whole time; Chopper loved how she could be silent and listen to nature. He loved his friend and was so happy to see she would pull through in any situation.

* * *

_**Earlier that morning**_

"_Hey Zoro! Come help me gather some fish!" Usopp grinned. He loved to fish but was terrified of the forest they set camp in. It was the only place people wouldn't come investigate however, so no one could link them to the explosion. _

"_Get them yourself," He argued coldly, leaning against the cave wall pretending to sleep. _

"_But, I can't carry them all by myself," He whined._

"_Don't get many then"_

"_We need the right amount to feed everyone!"_

"_Make two trips"_

"_It would be quicker this way!" _

_Zoro looked up annoyed. No one had held an argument with him for so long and he found it strangely comforting, even if it was a guy. He smirked and replied, "Just admit you're a chicken and you're too scared to go by yourself." He grinned. He shot a glance at Nami again; he had been doing it all morning in case she stirred or woke up._

_Usopp lifted a leg up in defence and raised his arm across his body as if he were blocking an attack. "Ah, your true colours have been shown…"_

_A vein popped in Zoro's head and he looked up to the sharpshooter. It would be a good chance to get to know someone new and to find out what his relationship was with Nami. "Fine, I'll come"_

_Usopp grinned and held his thumb up in victory._

_

* * *

_

That was how he found himself trudging through the forest with a long nosed guy talking about stories which were clearly lies.

"… and I said to him 'My weapons are my life and no thief will take them from me!' Then I held out my shooter and shot at the ten armed hoodlums and defeated them!" Usopp pointed out triumphantly.

Zoro had never had such a long, shitty conversation before. He found it pretty entertaining but at the same time pointless. He would have to visit him and the young doctor more often. Their company was strangely fun; a word he rarely used.

"So, what's up with her?" He asked trying to sound not interested. He hoped that the weapons dealer just thought of it as mindless banter.

"Nami? She's cool! Doesn't believe a rumour unless it has been proven true or she sees it for herself. That's how she met us!" Usopp said with a smile. "Everyone was scared of the great master U-s-o-o-o-p-p! Chopper too, they thought we were demons or something, not to be trusted they said. So she came to find us and see if it were true. She had been spying on us having a stupid argument about berries or something and then she visited us every since!"

Zoro found himself smiling at this; she was an opposite of any female he had ever known. He loved hearing their story, but wanted to know more about her in specific.

"What's a married chick doing hanging out with two men?" He tried to get her status out of him in a sly manner. Usopp was one step ahead of this however.

"Don't know; a getaway I suppose," He glanced from the corner of his eye at Zoro's reaction to this. All would be clear.

"W-what? So she's married?" He questioned madly. He soon regretted his actions when Usopp burst out laughing at him. _Bastard tricked me! _

"Ha-ha! Why the sudden interest in her?" Usopp asked leaning in with sly eyes.

"Just a conversation starter," He replied getting angrier.

"Ha-ha! Zoro, son of the Shimo tribe wants to converse! Hahahahahahhahaha!" Usopp couldn't control his laughter anymore so he got a couple of thumps on the head, which quickly set him, right.

"S-sorry!" He explained.

* * *

They eventually returned around a half an hour later. Usopp was soaked and shivering madly. Zoro had a blank, but satisfied expression on his face.

"Usopp! Why are you wet?" Chopper yelled. Nami turned her head in the direction of Usopp and laughed at him.

"You look like you were thrown in the water! Not fishing in it!" She laughed clutching her stomach.

"I- I-I w-w-a-s!" He wailed.

Nami looked up confused and realized Zoro had come behind him holding lots of fish and firewood. "Saviour-kun? I thought you would have taken off ages ago?" She smiled.

"Tch, who do you think carried you here?" He replied setting down the wood and fish.

_He… carried me?_ Nami started to blush so she turned away from him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction. She felt compelled to wind him up or tease him to see what his reaction was like.

Chopper was staring at Nami smiling. He hadn't seen her embarrassed because of something so trivial. "We asked him to stay with us for a few days until everything blows over. After all, we're in Oni-Mori," He explained.

"Aa, I see," She had now regained her cool and was watching Usopp start a fire while shivering. She found it entertaining and started to snicker at him.

"Damn it Nami stop laughing!" He yelled waving the wooden sticks at her.

"Aa, sorry-sorry." She started to laugh again.

"Nami!" Usopp threw one of the sticks at her, and she gave him a challenging look. She picked up Chopper's medical bottle he had just made and threw it at him gently so he could catch it.

When he did catch it she turned to Chopper. "Chopper, Usopp is playing with your medical equipment again!" She grinned evilly.

"What! USOPP!" He transformed into human form and chased wildly after the long-nosed man while Nami laughed loudly at them.

Usopp ran past Zoro, who had watched the entire time, and pushed the bottle in his hands. Zoro looked down confused then seen the giant reindeer chase after him. He pulled a face and started to run like Usopp had done. This made Nami laugh harder.

Zoro glanced over to her and grinned at her as he changed his course. She looked up questioning and received the bottle in her hands, while Zoro ran over to stand by Usopp.

"Nami!" Chopper yelled. She shrieked and thought up a plan fast. "That's right Chopper! A true doctor fights for his equipment!" The reindeer now transformed back to normal and grinned happily while swaying.

"Bastard! I'm not happy because you called me a true doctor!" He grinned clapping his hoofs.

Zoro and Usopp looked horrified at the scene. They mentally cursed.

She looked back over to them and winked sticking her tongue out at them.

Chopper took the bottle from Nami and dipped a needle into it. Nami looked horrified at the needle and questioned Chopper with her eyes. "C-Chopper? What's that for?" She asked with a fake smile.

"For you in case your wound gets infected." Chopper was still smiling because of the compliment.

"I'm fine really!" She smiled backing away with her good leg. "I don't need that!"

Zoro and Usopp were now grinning at her. Chopper followed her weak trails with baby steps, making her freak out.

He jumped forward and stabbed her leg with the needle and drained the liquid into her skin. She screamed loudly and crocodile tears flowed from her eyes.

* * *

"I see blood!" The blue haired girl yelled limping over to the crime scene. Robin and Sanji followed and examined the blood trails and Hyena corpses.

Robin investigated the bodies carefully. He took in that three of the bodies were lying stiffly and burnt. She remembered Nami had told them of her electrical weapon.

"She electrocuted these three. They also have battered ribs…" She rubbed the bodies sides taking in their injuries. "This one however was stabbed through the skull. She must have been saved."

"She's alive!" Vivi grinned.

"I'm coming Nami-swan!" Sanji yelled.

"Where was she taken then?" Vivi asked.

"She knows not to stay in the mountain when the villages are in a state of panic. They would be investigated. She didn't return to the village and the forest has been searched. That leave Shimo village, Shimo-Mori and Oni-Mori."

"If she was saved, the most likely place to be taken is Shimo village." Sanji said.

"What if they know she is the daughter of our tribe? Won't she be in danger?" Vivi asked.

"Yes she would be… that doesn't mean they know however." Robin answered staring at the Shimo tribe in the distance.

* * *

Back at the camp, Nami, Zoro, Chopper and Usopp had just finished their roasted fish and were talking about what to do.

"Shouldn't she be moved to the village?" Zoro asked leaning against the tree.

"_She_ wants to stay here," Nami said sticking her tongue out at him. He raised his brow at her childish behaviour and smirked.

Usopp realized Zoro had said 'the' village. _He still doesn't know who she is…_

"Isn't _she_ endangering her friends?" He asked.

"_She_ is keeping them company, and safe from the villagers who are scared of them," She said with sad eyes.

"Oh yeah," Zoro said closing his eyes.

_It's a good job the villages have the same problems and ideas. Otherwise they would have realized by now… _Usopp thought.

"What are we going to do? It's boring sitting around all day. I need a bath," She said scrunching her nose up at her blood stained clothes and mucky body.

Zoro blushed when she started to tug at her skimpy outfit. He looked away quickly before she noticed. She had been secretly watching his reaction out the corner of her eye and when she examined his turned face she seen the red tint in his cheeks. She smiled at this, letting confidence overwhelm her.

She stood up using the tree as support and all eyes diverted to her. "I'm going to take a bath. Where is the stream?" She asked.

"Nami, someone should go with you…" Chopper said.

"Well, someone come with me then," She closed her eyes and listened for the sound of water she heard earlier. When she heard it limped in that direction, which happened to be past Zoro's way.

"Nami?" Usopp asked.

"Well, you can sit around and decide which one of you is man enough to come with me and I'll go on ahead," She said with a hint of annoyance.

When she left the three males looked at each other. "Well I'm not going because she'll hit me if I accidently look!" Usopp said crossing his arms and looking at the floor.

"I'm not strong enough to protect her," Chopper said sadly. He then looked up at Zoro who was thinking of an excuse. Nothing came to mind however, leaving the two doctors grinning at him.

"It isn't decent for a man to go anyway," He said crossing his arms.

"What if that gang is in the forest again?" Chopper said sadly. "She can't use her leg too much and she left her Clima Tact here. She could get injured by an animal or raped by…"

At this Zoro stood up frantically getting the message. "Okay okay, I'll go," he said.

"AHHHHH!" She screamed from far away. Zoro turned and sprinted in the direction of the sound.

Zoro seen the girl standing against a tree, looking impatiently in his direction. He looked around the area and seen no one.

"Why did you scream?" He yelled.

"You were taking forever! Hmm"

"W-What?"

"I didn't expect you to come, pervert." She grinned at this remark and Zoro fell to the floor comically.

"W-who'd look at you anyway?!" He replied childishly. He was shocked she could make him so angry yet make him want to laugh at the same time. She brought out emotions and feelings in him he never knew existed.

"Oh? That didn't stop you before little boy," She was having a great time teasing the swordsman and thought of it as revenge for dropping Chopper's bottle on her.

"I," He stopped to think. "A man's intuition," He replied coolly.

She looked over at him and burst out laughing. Confused at this reaction, rather he expected a blow to the head; he looked over to her and watched her laugh. She was a rare beauty and he couldn't stop thinking about her, or watching her. He knew it was clear he had a thing for her and for the first time in his life, he wanted to jump and ravish her.

* * *

When they finally made it to the lake she looked up and realized it was different to the river she had lay next to the other day. The first feature she took in was the massive waterfall running off a steep mountain. It was a gorgeous blue and made a tranquil splashing noise in the pool below it. It was a huge lake it dripped into, which was quite deep. Nami knew it was going to be hard to bath in it.

"Wow!" She exclaimed.

"…"

Zoro stared at her widened eyes. They were so happy and explored the area looking surprised. He next stared at her lips. They were curved in a sweet smile, parted lightly. They were a light pink and looked so soft to touch.

She limped forward leaving the swordsman to lie down against a tree. He faced the side and closed his eyes pretending to sleep so she felt comfortable.

She had clearly unchanged and stepped into the water with her back to him. She held the bank with the back of her arms once she washed her upper body. Her leg was still in pain and she found it hard to stay up in the water with it so she held on to the side of the bank with her elbows.

"Hey, Zoro?" She asked but there was no reply. "I know you're not asleep."

"What?" He asked trying to keep his eyes closed.

"Why are you staying?" She asked.

"I'll leave if you want to; I was forced to come here."

She chuckled, "No, I mean why are you staying with us altogether?"

"Chopper said they aren't strong enough to protect themselves or you so I'm here."

"Come on, I mean why are you staying here with people you hardly know. Don't you have a family to go back to? Or a wife?"

"Oh, that's subtle," He laughed. She turned around shocked to see him laughing. He had kept such a straight face but she seen him carry on smirking. She laughed too at his attempt to make her smile or make them less awkward around each other.

"No more subtle than you," She laughed. He opened his eyes and stared out the corner at her. He noticed she had turned around and was her leaning on her arms upon the bank.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He carried on staring at her never breaking the eye contact.

"_What is a married chick doing hanging around with two men_?" She laughed out loud at his shocked expression.

"I- I was starting conversation," He said lamely, shifting uncomfortably.

She raised an eyebrow at him, making him look away embarrassed. She was a little disappointed he hadn't given her a straight answer and she didn't know if he was married or not.

"You didn't answer my question, isn't there a family missing you? They wouldn't have seen you since the explosion," She was now generally concerned in case someone was missing him, but she didn't want him to go.

"Just my father, he won't miss me. I've gone missing for weeks before."

"Did you get lost?" She asked laughing, remembering how Usopp explained his lack of directional sense.

"…"

She looked over to him and laughed harder at his embarrassed flush. She read him like a book.

All of a sudden, there was a loud splash behind Nami, which made her grab the long towel-like fabric she brought. She wrapped it around her body and Jumped out of the water. Zoro came to meet her and pushed her fragile body behind him as he held out a sword in front of him. She looked around him staying closely pressed into his back and waited for the answer to the splash.

A raven haired boy popped his head out of the shallow end water. He looked weakened and dozy then he looked up to the swordsman who had a young girl behind him.

"Yo!" He said with a grin.

"L… LUFFY?!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

"Luffy?" Zoro questioned the red head who clung to his back. She was peeking from behind him.

"He's Chopper and Usopp's friend. He's a traveller so they don't see him much… uh Zoro?"

He took in that she looked quite embarrassed and was staring at the hand he protectively swung around her body. He realized this and stepped away sheathing his sword watching the young boy emerge from the water and run over to them.

"NAMI! WHAT'S UP!?" He yelled.

She smiled at him until he came closer. "Hey! We missed you! Chopper and Usopp are back there." She said pointing her thumb behind her.

"Aa I missed you guys too! We're reunited!" He yelled happily hugging Nami and rubbing his fist in her hair. He turned to face Zoro next and gave him a blank stare. "Yo"

"Ah Luffy, this is Zoro. Zoro, Luffy," She said pointing towards each person.

Luffy grinned at him and he nodded stiffly.

"Luffy," She said laughing. "Let's go see the others!"

"Aa! Let's go!" He yelled pumping his hand in the air. "Nami? You're injured!"

"Aa, there was an incident yesterday, we'll explain when we get back okay?"

She went to walk away but Luffy grabbed her and flung her on his back. Zoro carried on watching them jealously. He hadn't thought to give her a piggy back for her injury and was regretting it. She held on to his neck and his hands were cupped under her legs.

"Come on Zoro!" Luffy yelled running off with Nami pointing towards the way to go.

Zoro followed closely as he ran through the trees and jumped over logs. Luffy abruptly came to a stop. He looked around after feeling the earth rumble a bit. He skimmed the area and looked off into the distance.

Not too far away, a large stegosaurus trampled through the more dangerous part of the forest. It was knocking down trees with its tail, but stayed in an open area so it could move around easier. It had a dirty brown coloured skin and orange spines running across its back.

"Awesome!" Luffy yelled. He turned around to face Zoro and swung Nami around his back into his arms. He laid her in Zoro's arms bridal style making them both shocked enough to stay silent. "I'll be back with meat! Wait here!"

They stood there for two minutes of silence. Zoro looked to the side and Nami looked down at her hands. She was still wearing the towel and her animal print clothes were in her hands.

She could have asked to be put down, but she was enjoying the closeness as was he. Zoro noticed Luffy's arm stretching in the distance and colliding with the dinosaur. He looked shocked at the scene until Nami broke the ice.

"He ate a devils fruit from this forest, so it's like his home," She said smiling at him.

He now had perfect eye contact with her and couldn't find the strength to break it. She felt his grip tighten around her legs and back. He thought it wouldn't be noticeable but she realized the atmosphere between them and was compelled towards his lips.

Before she could even dwell on the thought for longer, Luffy returned with a grin. "I killed him! But he's too big to drag through trees," He looked down at Zoro's swords and smiled at him. "Hey, come cut up my dino!"

Zoro looked over to him sighing and gave him Nami. She was getting angry that she was being passed around like a doll but a little thankful their gaze had been broken. She wasn't mentally prepared for what she thought would happen and it gave her time to calm her throbbing heart. Her stomach was in knots from their contact and she couldn't help but gaze at him.

She clutched her chest and breathed deeply until she was calm, and then looked up to watch the swordsman. In three slashes a huge chunk of meat had been cut, but it was big enough to fit through the trees.

Luffy's eyes sparkled and he ran over to Zoro he stopped half way when he heard a whimper in his arms.

She had fallen asleep. She was exhausted from all the excitement and had felt her eyes closing deeply. She fell asleep in Luffy's arms but he wasn't being very smooth about carrying her. She kept murmuring and shifting uncomfortably. He walked over to Zoro who looked down at the red head.

"Here, I'm not good with keeping still," He grinned laying Nami in Zoro's arms once more. They were both surprised to see she tucked into Zoro's chest and gripped it with her opposite hand. She lay still and breathed softly making him shudder from the hot breath against his skin.

Luffy had kept his grin and dragged his chunk of meat with him to the cave, ready to start a party with his friends for their reunion.

* * *

Sanji, Vivi and Robin were headed towards the Shimo tribe. They went through the stone buildings until they came to a large area with a small crowd. They walked up to different crowds and began to ask around.

"Excuse me? Has anyone seen a red haired girl? Possibly being carried by someone?" Vivi asked but the group of middle aged women shook their heads and continued to talk.

"What is the death toll of the village?" Robin asked a group of men who were taking a break. Normally they would have flirted or tried to converse, but they were exhausted and depressed for their villages lost ones.

"Nine," They replied.

"How many are missing?" They asked.

"Three… one of them is the chiefs son, the other two are men from the village." They replied uncaring. Most of the men were uncaring when it came to Zoro because of the lack of attention they get.

Robin nodded and turned away. Sanji had attempted to ask information, but got side tracked from the women in the village who were surprisingly not after his attention.

They met up once more and decided to search for the chief of the village to explain who they were.

They found him in a lone hut pacing the floor anxiously. "Excuse me," Robin said with a smile. "I would like you to listen to what we have to say."

"I can't at the moment; I have to devise a defensive wall in case the rival village attacks"

Robin grimaced and come out with the truth. "We are not here to start war or argue we came for information. We represent Coco tribe and are in search for the daughter of the chief tribesman on our end."

The three of the bowed low and then looked up to face him. His heart gave a shocking beat at hearing the young girl had gone missing and he was clearly shocked the other tribe had managed to get into the village but decided to listen to what they have to say. None the less, he was fuming and upset as he nodded stiffly to them.

"Her name is Nami; she had red hair and was headed for your village when the incident occurred. She had a row with her father and left to seek your council by herself. Did she make it here?"

He looked shocked at what the young woman was saying but didn't fully believe her. "What proofs have you that this isn't a lie or that your tribe isn't waiting to strike?" He said smugly, hiding his true feelings. He could be stubborn but these matters were sensitive and decided to give them a chance, especially at hearing the name of the woman missing. It made his stomach turn and his face droop.

"We have no proof only our word. I am Nico Robin, a famous archaeologist with my mother Nico Olivia. We are professionals when it comes to searching for lost artefacts and even people." She got down on her knees and placed her head to the floor. "We wish to find our friend no matter what! I would pledge the allegiance between our tribes right now, but that is not my place or goal. It was hers."

Chief Nakai was in deep shock at the young woman's actions. She was so bold and never once broke their eye contact; a true sign of honesty. Not only that, but the other two had bowed down low as well.

"We haven't seen her young miss, I am sorry but she never made it here from what I know."

The three, who were still bowing down, looked up at the man sadly. "Thank you Chief Nakai," They said standing up. Taking one last bow, they left the hut and walked out of the village. Nakai was deeply moved by the rival village's youth. Their generation would soon take over, and with such sincerity they would do a fine job.

* * *

Later that night, Nami woke up feeling drained. The sky had darkened and the only light came from a huge fire which was lit outside the cave. _How did I get here? _She thought rubbing her head. She looked down and noticed she was still in her towel and then remembered falling asleep in Luffy's arms. _He must have put me to bed, how sweet… _

She hoped up and regained her balance after she dressed in the clothes beside her bed. She had only managed to give them a quick wash, but they were still clean and no longer smelled.

She walked out of the cave wobbling vaguely and noticed Luffy had them deep in conversation about his adventures.

They laughed and screamed at Luffy's tails, which even Usopp was impressed by. Nami decided she wanted to be alone for a while, even though Luffy had made an appearance; she had a sinking feeling in her chest. It ached so much and made her legs wobble. Now was the best time for some solitude.

She slipped past them unnoticed, or so she thought, and began to walk through the thick trees. They were a deeper shade of brown under the night's sky yet the moon illuminated the dark wood, giving them a blue glow. The grass was black now and she rustled her toes and bare feet through them as she limped through the area.

She finally came to an open area covered in long grass up to her knees. She walked to the end and recognized the lights in the ground. It confused her at first but then she noticed the atmosphere was perfect for them.

"Whaddya doing coming out here by yourself?" He asked looking her up and down.

She turned around in shock but then relaxed as she saw the tall, broad shoulders and gleaming green hair. "I wanted to be alone," She smiled.

He looked slightly hurt by her words then turned around, "Okay, I'll leave y-"

"No! Don't go now!" She almost yelled. He turned around to see her blush causing his lips to smirk and raise an eyebrow. "I- I mean, uh, you're here now... so there's no point in going, right?" She asked mumbling.

"What? You want me to stay?" He was having fun tormenting the small woman who looked irritated. Could this be classed as flirting? He hadn't bothered flirting with anyone before. They weren't worth it…

"Yes," She whispered.

"Huh?"

"Yes!" She burst, flustered.

"Alright, no need to yell about it," He grinned at her peeved reaction. "Why did you want to be out here alone? You were alone in the cave."

She looked up and smiled at his attempt to start a conversation. He was gorgeous under the moon's light, although it was a shame it wasn't a full moon.

"I wanted to explore a little. This place looks beautiful!" She smiled tilting her head and closing her eyes. He couldn't help but gaze at her beautiful face.

"Uh, yeah I suppose," He was a little shy about admitting to the sceneries beauty, he didn't want to seem like a pansy.

"Haha, trying to be manly?" She questioned with a playful glint in her eyes.

"What? I am manly!" He shouted stubbornly. He calmed down after her giggling fit and felt stupid for falling into the childish banter.

"Okay, I believe you," She grinned turning around to face the field of little lights.

"What are those?" He asked confused, pointing towards the hidden glittering dots.

Nami turned around, her eyes beaming and grabbed his hand. He looked down at the contact feeling warmth then looked back into her eyes. "I'll show you," She smiled.

She dragged his hand behind her and ran through the field gracefully, ignoring the pain in her leg; thousands of fireflies danced around them after jumping out of the long stems and began to move elegantly through the air. Nami stopped after all the red dots hovered around them and turned around to face Zoro.

He looked bewildered as he stared at all the little insects circling them and fluttering wildly in the air. He looked down at her with surprised dark eyes, which soon turned into something else. She searched his eyes for this new feeling and felt that same fluttering sensation in her chest.

He reached down and took her face in his hands making her lift onto her tip toes. Pulling her towards him, he captured her lips with his own, letting her stand in shock, until she relaxed into him and closed her eyes. She put her hands on his chest and moved into him to make their contact deepen.

His hands snaked down to her waist and he bent down to lift her up off the ground, making her feet hover elegantly and her body become engulfed with his. She moved her needy hands around his neck, letting one of his hands run up and down her back while the other kept her firmly to his chest.

The fireflies carried on swirling and circling the two, as their contact only grew deeper until calls could be heard from the surrounding trees.

"Zoro!" Usopp yelled followed by Luffy and Chopper's.

"Zoro!"

"Zoro! Come out come out!" Luffy laughed.

The said couple broke apart and stared wildly at each other with hooded eyes. They were breathing heavily making their chests clash against each other. They averted their stare to face the source of the sound and saw rustling. He put Nami down gently never looking away from the noises.

"I'll go back; they think I'm still asleep," She said sadly. With one last gaze at each other she turned around and headed towards the area of the cave. He watched her go and then turned around to see Luffy running at him with a grin.

"Zoro! Did you get lost?" He grinned pouncing on him to the floor and sitting like a Buddha on his chest. Zoro was still a little dazed from their contact, and his first kiss, to care.

"Zoro! Where were you? We thought you got eaten!" Chopper called, breathing harshly.

The fireflies had flown onto a new area leaving the scene empty of all Zoro desired. He snapped out of his trance and looked up to see three men staring confusedly at him. He pushed Luffy off his chest and stood up scratching his neck.

"I went for a walk"

"Oh, we were so worried!" Chopper said with a grin.

"Yeah, I mean you're one of us now right?" Luffy grinned at him. From the moment he had stayed with them, he had felt as if he had known them for years. They instantly bonded and laughed together giving him the most welcome feeling.

He looked stunned. Never had he been part of something and the three men in front of him, who he had grown to know a lot, looked up at him hopefully. He felt a rush of happiness building inside of him so he grinned at them.

"Aa," He said with a grin patting Luffy roughly on the back. He had finally found people who respected him as a friend and not a warrior. He had found the gang of buddies he could hang around with. This night couldn't have become any better.

* * *

Nami had been watching the scene from behind the tall weeping willow and smiled warmly at them. The look on his face when they suggested they were friends instantly showed shock and confusion. She knew straight away he had never been called a friend and from his usual demeanour, she guessed he had only been treated highly and not equally. She felt a rush inside at his actions next. He accepted them for who they were and grinned at them.

She turned around and headed back to the cave quickly while he stalled them enough. Once she got there she lay on the rugged sleeping area and let her thoughts take hold of her.

_Oh my god, I can't believe he just kissed me. I didn't think he'd be so bold… well… I suppose I set up the scene a little. I can't believe I kissed him back! Remember Nami, men are only after one thing; damn! I can't believe I let him! But god! He's a good kisser… wait… THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS! He took my first kiss! Calm down… it… was worth it…_

She sighed deeply and shifted her head so she was facing outside. They hadn't come back yet. _Probably doing something reckless; wonder whose idea it was. I wonder if he'd go along with it; damn! Stop thinking about him! Does this mean he likes me? Wow! I didn't think of him the type to flirt or show any sign of liking. I wonder if he regrets it or wants to forget about it. Maybe he'll act strangely towards me now. Damn! You're still thinking about him! _

_The fireflies were so beautiful, it really set the scene, moonlight, fireflies, darkness, open field, his arms around me. NAMI!_

She shook her head and placed her cold hands over her temple. She was shaking throughout her body. Her breathing hadn't calmed much and her heart beat was rapidly pumping through her chest. She wanted to squeal loudly and jump around like a child, but she heard voices from outside and her attention was immediately drawn.

Outside, the four men returned laughing and grinning. Nami got up and decided to join them, curiously wondering what his reaction towards her would be. They took their seats by the fire and looked up at her when she came over. She smiled at them and sat next to Luffy and Usopp, the only available space.

Zoro watched her intently. He hoped she wouldn't choose to forget what happened between them but he was having his doubts.

_Shit, maybe she just felt obliged to follow my lead. God what if she hates me… shit, she didn't sit over here; well, there isn't exactly space but still, this could become weird, god I hope she's normal about all this or maybe even happy about it._

"Where have you been?" she asked looking to each face which smiled at her happily, until she landed on his. He looked troubled and a little uncomfortable. _He must be worried… I hoped he'd be happy. _She smiled warmly at him earning a smile in return, which caught Chopper's eye.

"We were declaring our bond!" Chopper grinned happily making Nami turn her attention to him.

"Bond?"

"Aa! We're friends till the end! Look!" Luffy held out his hand showing a bloody scar across his palm making Nami gasp. She looked around to inspect everyone's scar and noticed Usopp's seemed to be a little small. _Coward… _

"Your turn!" Luffy grinned. Nami looked a little shocked but was happy to become part of the bond. She held out her open hand and looked around.

"So who does the honours?" She asked with a grin.

Zoro got up to his knees and drew his katana. He moved the blade over her palm and paused.

"Zoro?" Usopp asked confused.

"I can't cut a woman." He said hesitantly. It was a lie; he'd cut a woman warrior before and had no qualms doing so. He just couldn't cut her.

Nami looked a little happy he was worrying for her, but she didn't like to be treated differently so she moved her hand to the blade and ran it across her palm. Zoro pulled back the blade quickly but to no avail. She had already been cut.

"Eh, that stings a little," She said wincing but smiling at the same time.

Zoro looked shocked but put his blade away and watched as Luffy's still bleeding hand was placed in the centre of them. Usopp moved his cut hand over the top as did Chopper. Zoro followed and then looked up to Nami. She looked excited when she placed her palm over his rough hands. It sent shivers through them both at their contact, drawing their eyes to lock with one another.

"So, Zoro how is the village?" Luffy asked settling down like the rest. Everyone was now relaxed with each other and enjoyed engaging in the talk. All except Chopper and Usopp, who cringed at the topic. They knew they came from the rival villages and their bond may be broken along with any chance of getting the two together.

"Same old, boring overall"

"Aa, Nami?" Luffy asked turning to face the grinning red head. She had found out he was from the village at last.

"Aa, same obviously," She laughed. Luffy looked confused at the two. _Why would it be obvious to be the same… they come from different villages. _He thought mindlessly.

Zoro too was happy in the knowledge that she came from the village and never thought once that they could be enemies.

"Anyway! What should we do tomorrow?" Usopp interrupted.

"Who knows, how long are you here for Luffy?" Nami asked.

"Until I next crave an adventure," He grinned.

"Let's celebrate!" Chopper yelled.

"KANPAI!" They all yelled happily. Looks were exchanged through their rowdy noise and blushes were revealed.

* * *

Robin, Vivi and Sanji made it back to the village with a failed day of searching. They were tired and depressed. No person in Shimo village had seen Nami and there were no sights outside or inside their own village. Things weren't looking too good.

"Robin… what if…"

"She'll be fine Vivi, tomorrow we search Oni-Mori. There are signs of blood that lead towards it," Robin smiled gently.

"Really? Okay!" Vivi looked happier in the knowledge of her friend's possible survival.

"We should meet on the outside of the village tomorrow at sun up. We'll continue our search then," Sanji said exhaustedly.

The three friends made their way to their own homes with a goodnight and a wave. Once they retired, Chief Genzo appeared from around a corner sighing heavily. He was so happy his daughter was loved and searched for all day and happier to hear there were possible signs of her survival. He disappeared from eavesdropping in on the conversation with a tear in his eye and a heavy heart.

* * *

In the adjacent village, the chief Nakai also had a heavy heart. He never showed any strong emotions towards his son, hoping he would stay strong and be a dominant leader for his people. But since his disappearance, his heart ached for his only child to come home. He was marked as missing and all the women of the village were pining for him.

"Damn it!" He yelled throwing his fist into the stone wall. A strong tear rolled down his twitching cheeks as he fought for control over his actions. His son had gone missing before, but he had received the story and details from his two followers. Sure, he wasn't worried then, but after such an incident, he was feared dead and Johnny and Yosaku were still in the village.

His thoughts ran to the sincere youths who came to visit him. They spoke of their leader's only child missing too and why she had gone missing. She came to talk of peace between the two tribes and the three had spoken so fondly of her. She sounded brave and determined to cross the dark plains by herself which made him feel strongly for the other tribe. He never thought he would wish for her to be safe… or even to be safe with his son.

"Maybe I'm getting old, but this war is starting to seem pointless," He said to himself miserably. He thought the reasons for the war were driven from his anxiety and lack of action. The two villages would stick to their boring routine and when he and Genzo had an argument about their children becoming betrothed, he fired off and went into a childish strop, thinking that Genzo thought his son to be unworthy.

Then, as a way to get more action out of life, he declared war on the other village and started rumors of their cowardice. Truly, he thought this to be a game, but when hearing his son state each village will suffer deaths and casualties, he became troubled. He didn't want to put that strain on the people who followed him or Chief Genzo. He hated to hurt his friends, no matter how angry he was.

He was too proud to admit he was wrong, and became scared of being dubbed a coward himself. He carried on with the plan, partially becoming psyched about it. But the three who came to visit looked so… hurt, his heart bled for his old friend Genzo. He knew how it felt to have a child missing and he had met the red haired little blossom of life. It hurt him to know she was nowhere to be found and worse.

If she was found, how can he face her pleading request for peace? He used to be like an uncle to her when she was young. She wouldn't remember that now. He knew he couldn't refuse girl if she asked for it, which made him hope she could find him and snap him out of his childish antics. He would finally have a way out of the situation he was trapped in.

He couldn't admit it to a soul, but she was the angel who could help him and support his actions. The little blossom of life who was now surely a strong young woman.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

The next morning, Nami woke to find she was lying outside around a worn out fire. She searched the grounds to find her friends lying on the ground snoring, twitching, mumbling or smiling. Luffy was talking about food and how hungry he was, occasionally yelling 'gomu gomu'. Chopper was leaning against Usopp's stomach grinning to himself while Usopp snored loudly. She looked over to Zoro and seen him snoring quietly, occasionally twitching his foot and nose. He was leaning against the tree with his hands behind his head. She smiled at him and remembered last night's event.

A blush took hold of her and she stood up stretching. Her leg felt a lot better now and most of the pain couldn't be felt, except the odd twinge. She decided to get up and search for their breakfast, seeing as though she woke up pretty early. It would take her some time to catch enough meat to satisfy Luffy but she thought she had enough time before they woke up.

She walked into the forest with her weapon in hand and found two large raptors chewing at the body of a Zebra. It ribs bulged out and the skin from around them hung loosely by the side. She felt sick looking at them but instead she raised her weapon and spun it around. She watched the storm forming in the sky and the raptors attention had been focused on it too.

She didn't make a huge cloud in case it woke the others and in case someone spotted it and alerted the villages. "Thunderbolt tempo!" She whispered letting the lightening zap through their bodies.

She grinned and headed out to the corpses to gather them, when out the corner of her eye, an enormous T-Rex came from the trees. She instantly froze, knowing they're attracted to movement.

But the blood from the Zebra clung to its nostrils and it began to nudge the bodies, stepping dangerously close to Nami. She began to panic and breathe heavier as it approached her.

She couldn't move. She was literally staring the dinosaur in the eye and its head alone was more than five times her size. Her body began to tremble, catching the fiends eyes, when out of the corner of her eye she seen movement.

A body flew at the T-Rex and blue stripes could be seen left in the air. After it wailed loudly it fell to the floor splashing blood everywhere. Even after its limp body crashed into the earth, she couldn't move. She was frozen to the spot.

"Nami?" a deep voice questioned staring at her.

She only managed to turn her head a little until her eyes rested on a man standing with a bandana over his head, shadowing his eyes. He held two blades in each hand and one in his mouth. At first she didn't know who it was until she looked deep in his eyes.

"Z-Zoro?" She asked quietly. From one look at her he could see her trembling form and her eyes full of fear. She hadn't been so terrified in her life, except when she seen the hoards of animals stampeding towards her village and the fire which threatened her friends safety.

"Yeah," He put his blades away and walked over to her, not bothering to remove the bandana. "You okay?"

She nodded stiffly, as he now faced her.

"Good," He replied. All of a sudden his attitude changed. "YOU STUPID WOMAN!"

She looked stunned. Did he care? "W-What!?" She yelled back.

They both began to yell at each other bearing sharp teeth and white eyes until Zoro began to chuckle with a smug grin.

"What's so funny asshole?!"

" That's better," He said grinning at her. She noticed she could now move her body and was no longer standing stiffly. She looked up at him and smiled. "But you're still stupid," He said with a serious expression.

She looked mad again so she hit him hard across the head. "I know"

She turned to walk back to the T-Rex when she was grabbed from behind. He placed his arms firmly around her waist and tucked her into him. She blushed and raised her arm to place it around his neck. She found herself grinning now as he placed gentle kisses into her neck.

She smacked him firmly on the head once more. "What!" He yelled defensively.

She turned around winking at him and said, "Behave," She stuck her tongue out and walked over to the dinosaur's body.

A small smirk crept upon his face as he watched her walk away, her butt wiggling from side to side unintentionally.

* * *

When they made it back to the camp, Zoro was sweating heavily as he dragged the dinosaur meet with him. Nami walked in front with a grin on her face when she sat down exclaiming how exhausting that was. His lip twitched.

Usopp and Chopper were awake now and had gathered some wood together. They were messing around with once of Usopp's fire balls when Zoro and Nami joined them.

"Whoa!" Usopp yelled madly.

Around fifteen minutes later, the dino meat had been cut into different slices and cooked over the fire when Luffy's body staggered to its feet, still asleep, and over to the meat. His nose led the way towards it but he was awoken by a sharp blow to the head by Nami.

"Nami!" He whined clutching his head and rolling around on the floor.

"Wait your turn! It isn't done yet!" She yelled.

"Huh? MEAT!" He yelled realizing what happened. He sat next to the fire and watched the meat turning in colour. In irritation he stuck his arms in the air to shout, "IT'S DONE!"

"NO IT ISN'T!" Everyone yelled at him.

He sat a little further away sulking and glancing towards the turning meat while the other sat around and talked.

"How long until Nami's leg is better Chopper?" Usopp asked the doctor getting nervous glances. Even though the pain could be unbearable, she wished it still hurt as much as it did the previous days. She didn't want to leave the forest but had her duties as the daughter of the Chief. Not to mention that they would be worried for her sake; they probably thought she was dead.

Zoro looked to the floor pretending to be uninterested, but it annoyed him to think they would go back to how things were. He finally found some real friends and comrades at the same time. They were all completely different, unafraid of him and loved to have fun. He wished they could all just stay like that.

"She should be much better tomorrow and it shouldn't hurt for her to walk for longer distances again. So, I guess this all ends tomorrow," Chopper answered sadly.

Nami shot a saddened glance at Zoro only to meet his in return. They both looked away embarrassed but looked up again when Luffy started to talk more seriously.

"Things will be like this forever now. We have our bond!" Luffy lifted his palm to show the proof and continued. "We'll be together from now until we die!"

Everyone found themselves smiling at Luffy's logic and feeling happier. "I guess we'll just have to meet here a certain time every week to hang out!" Nami announced grinning.

"What you've got to remember is that nothing matters anymore! No matter where we come from, who we are, or how we think; we're all friends now!" Luffy added grinning.

They all continued to grin, smile and talk about where they should meet and what they should do. Luffy even added in talk of a group name or motto. All through the talk, _they _kept on watching the other or sending nervous grins.

* * *

"I'm coming Robin-chwan!" Sanji yelled running over to their meeting spot. They both smiled at him and looked towards the forest.

"This is it," Vivi gulped nervously, "Back into Oni-Mori."

"You've been before?" Sanji asked quizzically.

"We were chased by that gang; they're the real enemy of the villages." Sanji nodded in agreement and they took off into the open plains, directly towards the forest.

* * *

"Oi… N-a-m-i!" Usopp called mockingly. He sat over next to her and grinned at her. He was up to something.

Zoro, Luffy and Chopper had wondered off to find different varieties of herbs for Chopper's research. Luffy knew where to find the different plants for Chopper to collect and Zoro was dragged along through embarrassment. He wanted to stay with Nami and dig deeper into her life but the three men gave him menacing looks as if they knew something, so he had no choice to go along with them. Besides; Luffy had wanted him to come along and chop up any dinosaurs they ran into after Luffy dealt with them. Zoro felt annoyed that his katana were being abused and put down to mere kitchen knives.

"Yes?" She knew he was up to something. His facial expression said it all.

"What's the story between you and the sword maniac?" He asked with prying eyes and a cunning smile.

"There is no story; other than our bonds which are shared with the rest of the group too." Her head turned away smugly at her come back. She didn't know what she was to him or what he was to her yet. No point in explaining to the likes of Usopp. He'd tell the rest and ruin anything they might have.

"Come on! I promise I won't tell!" he grinned.

"There isn't anything to tell!"

"There must be! I watched you two blushing at each other over dinner! Why else is he bothering to stay with strangers!?"

"We aren't strangers now! The bonds, remember?"

"Yeah now! But when we asked, there was nothing in it for him and he wasn't bothered about leaving! It must be you!"

"USOPP! It isn't me!"

"I think he likes you"

Nami grabbed the left over dinosaur meat and smacked it firmly over his head.

"OW! Nami!"

She stuck her tongue out him and laid her legs in front of her, closing her eyes.

"You know Nami," She sighed heavily waiting for another comment. "Me and Chopper are hoping you get together."

"W-What? Why?" She asked becoming confused. Normally they wouldn't care.

"Well, um, you guys look good together!" His lip twitched into a smile to try and hide his obvious lies; not that he didn't mean that, he just wanted the villages together. "Admit it," He nudged her in the ribs gently while smirking. "You like him don't you?!"

"Alright!" She answered annoyed.

"Yahoo!" He yelled jumping in the air slower than anything happening around him.

"Tell any other soul and I will make sure Kaya will hear something unpleasant about you," A grin took hold of her features when she seen his uneasy looks. The tables had turned.

He nodded and looked away hoping to end the conversation. She obviously had other plans. "I've helped so far, which you owe me one for."

"What? How have you helped?!"

"I tell her good stories about us three, stories which even you'd be proud of and, of course, your name stands out the most in them, and when the other men try for her admiration I put her off them or told them she was taken." She grinned over to him feeling proud of her self.

"Wow, thank you Nami!" He announced happily.

"No problem," She said in a squeaky high voice. "Remember you owe me one," Her voice changed a little lower giving him a warning stare should he not help her with something in return.

"Y-Yes!" he said sheepishly.

* * *

"MEAT! MEAT! MEAT! MEAT!" Luffy kept chanting, avoiding the low branches and huge rocks.

"Luffy! We came for my herbs not meat!" Chopper wailed.

"Ah! Sorry Chopper!"

Zoro scoffed at him earning an insulted look. Luffy turned around, annoyance written in his eyes making Zoro cringe.

"ZORO!" He yelled jumping on the swordsman, pulling at his neck.

"AH! Psycho! Get off!"

Chopper rolled around the floor laughing at the spectacle. Luffy wrapped his elastic legs around Zoro's waist and his arms around the swordsman's shoulders.

"Jus' cause I point out that you can't stop thinking about food?! Get off me!" Zoro yelled trying to unwrap his rubbery fingers.

"So!" He retorted thinking of his clever come back.

Chopper and Zoro waited for Luffy to add on to his sentence but when nothing more came they simply laughed at him.

He jumped off Zoro's back and walked in front of them with a huffed face and a peculiar march. After walking further in silence, Chopper and Zoro started to get suspicious of his silence.

That is, until he turned around with a grin. "So Zoro, how are you and Nami getting along?"

Chopper shrieked. He and Usopp clearly didn't think Luffy would notice their closeness and it got worse; Luffy also knows about the village problems between the two.

Zoro stopped and pulled a face that implied 'busted'. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I seen you two, _oof!_" Zoro smacked his palm flat against Luffy's mouth and turned down to face Chopper. He was staring up at them strangely; like he knew something.

_Shit_

Luffy's smile could be seen behind Zoro's hand. In fact, his hand moved in position of his smile.

Zoro let go of his face and continued to walk through the forest. "Let's go"

When Chopper was bent over some wild plants, Zoro grabbed Luffy out of ear shot and looked him in the eye seriously.

"How much do you know?"

"I seen you smooching!"

"Forget it!"

"Like hell!"

Luffy grinned cheekily. Zoro pounded the same head leaving a lump.

"Omkay… sworry mZowo…" Luffy answered with a swollen face.

* * *

"A-are we ready…?"

"Don't worry Vivi! I will protect you with the power of my love!" The blonde haired chef answered jumping backwards into a pose and moulding his fingers to represent a heart.

Vivi smiled, her lip twitching slyly, and put on her poker face as she walked into the forest. Robin followed her and looked around carefully for any signs of blood or items that belonged to the chief's daughter.

"Nami-san!" Robin called aloud. Vivi turned around with a fearful face and slapped a hand to Robin's mouth to silence her.

"Don't shout! Monsters may hear us!" She said desperately in the other woman's face.

Sanji obviously didn't hear this.

"Nami-swan!" He yelled even louder making Vivi fall onto the floor.

Robin smiled and walked up beside Sanji to join in his efforts. "Wait for me!" Vivi caught up to Robin and grabbed her arm like a leash, looking around nervously.

* * *

"Go Usopp!" Luffy yelled to the long-nosed man, who stood over the fire singing and dancing. It had just turned darker and the fire illuminated Usopp's features making a chill run down Nami's back.

"How can you chant him on through a ghost story!" She yelled at Luffy who threw his arms back and forth to take a chunk out of the meat from each hand.

"…when I opened the curtain, the hut was empty! I still heard the tapping noise from…" Usopp continued, using his hands and face to create scary images.

Nami shrieked and shivered through his stories. She wasn't one for horror tales and Usopp knew it, which is why he was loitering around Nami the most. Here was how he and Chopper had planned it. The inner workings of the idiot's mind:

Nami is spooked and sits by Zoro.

Zoro holds her telling her not to be scared.

They smooch and declare their love for each other.

They find out about the villages and marry together out of love and peace.

They live happily ever after.

However the plan failed as soon as they started. She hadn't yet moved and Zoro was the opposite side of the fire, watching and laughing along with Luffy. No matter how hard Usopp tried, he couldn't get her to budge.

He moved on to more forceful methods. Through his chants and stories, he moved slyly closer to Nami, getting ready to scare her enough to jump or move along. He reached out and shook her to emphasize the part of the story, but she turned around angrily and bopped him on the head. Plan failed.

"Get off me! Game over!"

"Aww, Nami!"

"Fine, continue if you like, but I'm going to go for a swim." She grinned and walked towards the area of the waterfall.

"Oi Nami," Luffy said in between pieces of meat. She turned around and waited for the next bit of stupidity to fly out of his mouth. "It's dark now; you sure going by yourself is a good thing?"

She looked towards the direction of the waterfall and doubt could be seen in her eyes. Usopp took this opportunity. "Oh yeah! The mountain crows will be out this time of night."

"Mountain crows?" She asked unimpressed.

"Zoro, better go out with her," He added.

She knew he was revealing her secrets without actually saying them aloud. "Usopp, I'm not a baby!"

"Seriously Nami, they come out just after sundown, lurking in the trees and the waters. They have the head of an oversized crow, but the body of a human. They have wings instead of arms, and…"

"_Eep! _Usopp!" She screamed not wanting to hear another ghost story.

By this time, Zoro had stood up and walked in front of her towards the waterfall. He didn't say anything, only silent acknowledgment that she should follow.

"You know the way?" She asked smugly.

He grimaced and turned around embarrassed. "Hurry up and lead the way!" He said pointing over his shoulder.

She laughed and walked in front of him oblivious to the round of high-fives that were passed around behind them.

* * *

"…"

"…"

They walked on in an awkward silence, neither knowing how to approach the other. They knew they didn't regret the kiss, but they did feel strange towards each other now.

"Just couldn't be away from me for one second, huh?" Nami mocked, hoping to ease the tension.

He turned around and looked down at her. He smirked and pinned her to the nearest tree, dominating over her. "Nope"

She shivered with excitement and stared back up at him with needy eyes. He recognized this look and bent down to brush her lips with his own. He never fully made the contact, teasing her slowly until she begged for it from him. He wanted to hear her pleading for his touch.

She shrieked and froze at hearing the bush rustle behind him. He turned around and stared at the bush.

"It's the mountain crows!" She shivered.

"Nami, they made that up so I came with you," He said with a monotonous voice.

"Wh-!" He pressed his lips against hers silencing the poor girl and making her forget about the bush behind them. He deepened the kiss until she hesitantly pulled away. "They could see us"

"So?"

"…" Her cheeks turned red and she grabbed his hand leading him to the waterfall again.

When they got there, she smiled and ran over to the water, letting his hand go. She hooked her hands around her back and began to fiddle with the knot her top was tied by. She finally got free of the material and she looked around to see if he was watching her. Thankfully, he was leaning against the same tree with his eyes closed.

She held the material to her chest while she shimmied out of her bottom piece. She turned around again to see if he was watching but she thought she seen his eyelids so assumed he wasn't watching. She stepped into the water and soon was completely submerged by it.

He had opened his eyes to see if she was in when he seen her head and upper body out of the water. She seemed nothing but a silhouette in the dark liquid and the moon shone a brilliant blue through the odd ripple of water.

She had been in for five minutes when she looked down and shrieked. A dark figure was in the water coming towards her slowly and stealthily; or so it thought.

"Ah! Zoro!" She yelled walking backward in the water. Her movement was drastically slowed down by the water and the figure was coming closer.

Zoro jumped up with one sword in his hand, heading towards the waters where she struggled to create some distance between the anonymous being. He reached closer to her and stood on the things head, which felt strangely soft and squishy. He pushed her behind him with his arm, like he had done before, and lifted his foot up. He saw Luffy's toothy grin which was hidden underneath layers of seaweed and long plants. He knew their plan and as he was about to squish him again, he lifted him up on his foot and kicked him up and over the many trees surrounding the open waterfall.

"Is it gone?"

"Yeah, _it's _gone," He looked behind him and realized she had backed off a little from him, holding her exposed body so he didn't see. He smirked at her and splashed some water at her. "Don't go all shy for my sake"

She looked up annoyed at him and took some water to flick back at him. He didn't bother to wipe his face, instead choosing to let the droplets run down his face. She laughed at him and he took her by the waist, lifting her up off her feet.

"Hey! What-where-?"

"Shh woman!" He replied walking over to the edge of the pool. Her feet dangled by his legs as he carried her closer to the edge. He finally dropped her in the water earning a confused stare. "It's safer," He said deeply moving to step out of the water and leave her.

She clutched onto his wrist, receiving his attention but she didn't know what had possessed her to do so. She looked up at him unsure of what to say so she let go muttered a thank you.

He smiled down at her and turned around, taking off the long piece of animal skin he had draped over his shoulders.

"What are you doing?!" she said embarrassedly turning around so she would stop staring at his body. It was gorgeous and so defined; the only part which worried her was the long scar down his stomach. She was curious as to how he got the mark but decided not to question that just yet.

"Joining you," He simply stated removing his bottom piece and throwing it over to the edge of the water.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

"But-" She was about to explain how improper it was when he came up behind her and took her chin to lift it up to the sky. He was stood taller than her so when he looked down her head could fit under his chin. She looked him in the eyes and hers immediately hooded.

"Jeez, stop complaining!" He said with a malicious grin. Her cheeks flushed a dark colour.

"No peeking!" She yelled bonking him on the head and turning him around to look away.

"You're getting shy again"

"So! You're not my husband! It isn't appropriate!"

"I never much liked rules," He turned around to glance over his shoulder at her struggled attempts to put some distance between them. Openly smirking in front of her seemed to make her angry.

"Stop laughing!" She yelled angrily trying to push his immovable body further.

At this point he burst out laughing and turned around suddenly causing her arms to buckle and loose her balance; falling straight into that solid chest. She squealed as she fell into him but when those strong hands wrapped around her arms she felt her heart race.

He lifted her chin again so her embarrassed face would look up at him. Her hot breathe against his chest sent shivers down his spine and he greedily took her lips, exploring her mouth like it would be the last time.

When she finally relaxed into the kiss, she ran her hands up his chest and rose to her tip toes. He took this to his own advantage, wrapping his hands around her waist and lifting her up. Her legs wound around his waist and he held on to her back and cupped her butt; never once breaking their connection.

He turned his body around and headed towards the bank of the lake, laying her down on the soft grass. He climbed out of the water and over the top of her to resume their actions. Nerves started to take hold of Nami and her body was shaking.

When he took note of this, he leaned down to her neck instead of her lips, and began to suck gentle at her pulse point. Her breathe deepened and her eyes became entranced; wanting more. Subconsciously, she gripped his shoulders pulling him closer to her. She felt him grin into her neck and smiled in return.

He gradually moved lower until he reached her collarbone. He licked the protruding bone making her shoulders shiver. Just above her collarbone, the clear soft skin was calling to Zoro and he bit hard into it making her gasp and wriggle beneath him. He steadied her hips into the ground as they had begun to grind into him, getting him aroused too early.

He was still working on his mark he felt obliged to leave. He wanted her, and any other male who stared, to know she was taken. This was his dominance over her and she needed to know it.

This was a first for Zoro, yet he seemed an expert in both of their eyes. His touch kept her wanting for more. He was desperate to claim her and she was wanting for more.

Unconsciously, her legs widened allowing him to be closer to her. Her mouth had parted long ago and began to send long, quick breaths into his short hair. Her fingers found these short spikes and began to run through them getting a grip.

She was unsure of it all. They had come from an attraction to an immediate mauling. It felt so right, and when her mind disagreed from her natural, womanly instincts, her body was moving on its own until her brain could do nothing but accept that this had to be right.

His hands moved lower to her hips and then her thighs grabbing them further apart and tucking his hips into her exposed lower body. His hands moved under her back and gripped down her shoulders from behind.

Feeling that the time was right he ground himself into her, earning another gasp and a sharp tug on his hair, which made his teeth sink deeper into her skin. She flushed and began to grow sweaty from his constant pounding. A strange feeling over took her body, sending shivers through her like electricity.

"Ah, Zoro!" She yelled in a breathy, desperate tone.

Her moans were rewarded with his own, and more pressure being sent through her. He had to fight to keep her body on the ground as it rose upwards as the tension began to build. Eventually, she let out one last scream which was followed by loud pants.

She closed her eyes to savour the moment but they opened again when he leaned down from his upright position, and kissed her forehead sweetly. He collapsed onto his side and pulled her tiny frame closer to him.

"You'll have to be my woman now," He grinned into her red, soft hair while his hand worked magic on her back. She caught the possessive tone and lack of question, but only grinned.

"I suppose so," She answered giggling.

"Suppose?"

Her laughs, which filled the air, were like music to him. They were full of meaning, so sweet; and sweet was not a word that registered well with Roronoa Zoro. The only 'sweet' he had known was the taste. It fit her well. She did taste as sweet as her words sounded. Like a fruit… the only other sweet he had know. A fruit…

"This is so you know you're mine, so no other man looks at you wrongly." He said caressing the mark on her neck with his thumb.

She smiled up at him and nodded. She loved his dominance over her; he was so protective. After they had regained their energy, she stood up and began to locate her clothes. She felt quite sore but it was worth it. She was now tied to him in a sense.

He watched her crawling over to her clothes and pulling them up her legs and over her head. When she was fiddling with the knot on her back he grabbed his own clothes and dressed, minus the skin which would usually hang over his shoulders.

He turned around to notice she was still fiddling with the knot, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration and sticking her tongue out. He smirked and sat down behind her to tie the knot; not that he was an expert.

* * *

"I heard a scream!" Sanji announced pointing into the thick trees. He heard water in the distance and began to run off into the dark. "I'm coming NAMI-SWAN!"

Robin looked on chuckling and Vivi's face fell. "No wait Sanji-kun!" She yelled pulling Robin to follow. "Don't leave us!"

They ran for what seemed like an eternity. "How did he hear her from this distance?" Vivi questioned trying to breathe and run.

"Cook-san hears all when a woman is behind it," Robin laughed beside her friend.

They made it to a clearing and in the centre was a huge, beautiful waterfall which left a hazy mist when it crashed against the lake below it. By the side of the lake they noticed two figures sitting down, one in front of the other. When they approached even closer they heard part of their conversation.

"…damn why are these things so fiddly!" a man yelled behind a smaller figure attacking its back.

"Quit complaining! Are you done yet?" When Vivi, Sanji and Robin came closer they noticed both figures were quite wet and had distinctively coloured hair.

"Ye- we have company," He cut off, standing up and drawing out a blade. Sanji took this as an attack on Nami and jumped out of the bush they had been hiding behind to attack him. His leg met with Zoro's blade and began to fight for power.

"Zo-! Ah Sanji? What are you doing?!" She yelled standing up and power walking over to the cook. When she met him she smacked him over the head harshly and glared down at him.

"Nami-san!" Vivi shouted jumping out of the trees. Robin simply walked over smiling until she noticed the swordsman's three blades, and in particular, the white one which was drawn.

She made it her business to know what went on in each village and she recognized that drawn katana and the story behind it. She eyed the man up and down; he seemed so familiar. Not just because it was the same man Nami encountered days before, but his stance and his blades. His green hair; she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Nami-swan! I came to save you from the _dangers_ you face!" He said looking over to Zoro with death in his eyes. Whilst talking he had made his way over to Nami and took her hand kneeling on the floor.

"What dangers?" She asked irritated, pulling her hand from his clutches.

"Saviour-kun? You two met again?" Vivi asked with a smile on her lips.

"…" Nami shut up after looking at Zoro and blushed. If they had came moments earlier they would have seen a sight they would never forget.

"Uh…yeah," He answered awkwardly, not taking his glare away from Sanji.

"He, uh, saved me from the incident. Wait! Is the village alright?!" Nami said in a hurry causing her own and Zoro's attention to follow Robin; the sensible information seeker.

"We… did suffer losses, but overall we're getting by. They need you with them though," Robin replied watching Nami carefully.

"Huh?" Zoro didn't understand why they needed Nami and not him. He was about to ask if anyone had been asking about him when the eyebrow freak piped up.

"Do I know you?" He said through clenched teeth.

"Do I care?" Zoro replied cool-like earning an odd look from Nami.

"Stupid Marimo!" Sanji yelled attempting to raise his foot again.

"Marimo?!" He walked over to meet his raised leg with his still drawn blade.

"Stop it! Sanji-kun; please behave," she said sweetly causing Sanji to sink into a pile of mush.

Zoro looked over angrily to her; why hadn't she tried that on him in her sweet voice?

"...would you have listened?" She answered reading his mind with a curious look.

He shrugged and lowered his weapon to his side.

"Why didn't you come back Nami?" Vivi said sadly, like she had been rejected.

"I had injured my leg. I was carried here for protection and the guys followed," She said patting Vivi on the shoulder.

"The guys?! Guys! As in more than one?!" Sanji asked with a broken heart.

"Yeah, Usopp, Chopper, Luffy and Zoro…" She said with a smile.

Robin and Sanji gasped at the same time looking over to the green haired swordsman. He found it odd they had just realised who he was and began to worry in case Nami felt betrayed since he didn't tell her.

"What's… wrong?" Nami asked confused she walked over to Robin and waved in front of her face.

"Z-Zoro?!" Sanji asked half worried and half angry. "Why the hell are you with Nami!?"

"What's it to you; jealous?" He smirked at the blonde's reaction and earned another restraining look from Nami.

"Nami, don't you remember?" Robin questioned holding the girls arm back from Zoro. Sanji was still next to him glaring.

"Remember what? What is wrong with everybody?" She asked growing more annoyed by the second.

Sparks were sent from Zoro and Sanji; Zoro thought he just really disliked him as the other males in the village did, but Sanji wanted to know what he done to Nami.

"Mr. Swordsman, care to tell us who you are?" Robin insisted, feeling it would be better if he told the truth to everyone.

"Well, who are you?"

"Nico Robin… Archaeologist"

"Hey, don't you live in that other village?"

"No Zoro, she lives in the same one as us"

"Nami..."

"Hurry up and tell her shit head!"

"Tell me what?"

"What are you going on about?!"

"Zoro?" Vivi tried.

"Nami, he's-!" Sanji tried in vain.

"So what if I am, it doesn't change anything!"

"Think again bastard!"

"Who is he?!"

"Roronoa Zoro," Robin finally said.

A strange, eerie silence followed the five who all stood staring at Nami, except for two stubborn men.

"…"

Robin continued in case Nami started to make excuses for him, "Son of the chief in Shimo's Tribe. Heir to Shimo's legacy."

Zoro finally turned around confused as to why they were so silent. He didn't think it was that much of a shock.

"Wh-" He stopped as soon as he seen the tears falling from Nami's wide, sorrowful eyes. He immediately felt sick at thinking the news brought her so much grief, he just couldn't think why.

"Nami-san?" Vivi questioned, shaking from the whole ordeal.

"You're joking right… Zoro is the _Demon _everyone talks about? The _murderous, insane man from Shimo's warriors?_" Nami said with a crackling voice and exaggerated sarcasm. She feigned a smile to make it seem like she had got the joke until Robin placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

"Nami," She said lowly so she understood they were serious.

"He-he can't… be" She said in between small sobs. "He… he isn't… a… demon!"

"Nami? What's wrong?" He asked taking a step toward her. He felt hurt at hearing her say those rumors and began to wonder why his village would say that about him.

She stepped backwards in return, breaking the wall Vivi and Robin created. When Zoro tried to move forwards again Nami turned and ran through the nearest exit, which were a bunch of closely packed trees. He made a run after her but Robin stood in front of him and Sanji grabbed his wrist.

"Let go dartboard!" He ordered snatching his hand away.

"Mr. Swordsman? You should know Nami is from Coco," Robin said quickly trying to get his attention.

"W-What!?" He said stopping in front of her, frozen.

He suddenly understood the confusion, but not the tears. She could never be with him if they were from two separate tribes and worse… at war. A thought suddenly crossed his mind and he looked up hopefully.

"She could-!"

"Immigrate into Shimo?" Sanji added knowing exactly what he would suggest.

"Roronoa-san," Vivi piped up. "That's not all. Nami is the heir of Coco… her father is Genzo-san."

"…" Zoro felt his world suddenly crumbling in on him. He now finally understood. Neither could immigrate, nor run away together. What was worse was the tightening feeling in his chest. He knew it from the moment she started crying; he didn't want her tears, her sorrow. He wanted her to smile. He wanted to hold her until she smiled. He… loved her. With no Nami in his world… what was the point in existing? It was strange and scary how close he felt to her over the past few days...

"Why was she in the middle of the plains then?!"

"She was going to talk to your father about the war. She didn't want it to continue; she wanted peace." Vivi said.

Sanji simply scoffed and ran a hand through his hair.

Zoro's heart warmed. She was such a peace keeper and even before he had met her she had reason to respect and hope for the other village.

Without thinking of the consequences he found feeling in his legs and ran past Robin into the forest after Nami. Sanji moved to grab him but Robin stopped any further actions.

"This became… interesting" She said finally.

"Robin!"

"Robin-chwan! How could you say that?"

"If Nami-san and Mr. Swordsman have grown to love and overcome that fact, there will be no more war. Not only that, but Nami has never taken such interest in a man before."

Sanji fell to the floor breaking his heart in unknown mumbles. The two girls only caught the words 'Nami-swan' 'Marimo' 'me' and 'too good for him'.

"You're right Robin, but Nami is stubborn. The whole village helped bring her up on the other village's terrors. I hope her usual attitude towards rumors comes in handy."

"Un"

* * *

Nami's leg gave way and she almost fell to the ground until she caught a nearby tree. All the emotions had built up and were exploding now, as she sunk slowly down the tree she faced. Her legs felt foreign beside her and the only comfort was the dry oak in front of her, to which her hands so desperately clung to. Her back hunched into the tree and her forehead rested on its rough texture.

Tears… more tears… She couldn't stop them. She could never be with Zoro when it wasn't guaranteed the war would even stop. She could always talk with the other leader like she first planned but was unsure of the final result. Not to mention that Zoro hadn't even told her who he was.

She felt used and betrayed. Moments ago she was lying naked with him letting his hands roam wherever he felt and he took her.

Her hand unconsciously found his mark. The one that suggested she belonged to him. She loved him so much, but he hadn't even told her the truth. Even more so, the villagers who brought her up would be ashamed if she married the 'beast' of the other village. It sickened her to think their stories, too, were lies. Zoro wasn't a demon! He wasn't unkind or murderous! He was the most sweet, loveable man she had ever known.

"Nami"

Her sobs froze like the rest of her body and her head still hung lifelessly with her hair covering her face.

"…you lied to me…"

"What?!"

"You didn't tell me you were… were…"

"A _demon_?"

She shuddered at his harsh tone and looked over to his feet so he knew he had her attention. "I never thought that!"

"You sure as hell said it!"

"They weren't my thoughts!"

"No, they were your _tribes_…"

She didn't like the way he had said it. It sounded blood thirsty, like the demon they implied him to be.

"Stop it!"

"You didn't tell me who you were either!"

"I thought it was pretty obvious!"

"Same here!"

She stood up from the tree with difficulty and turned around to leave when she felt his hands grab her and push her against the hard wood.

"We're not done here!"

"What? You think we can continue like this?"

"…"

"Don't be so naïve! The war between our villages isn't going to subside!"

"So talk to my father like you were going to do!"

"Oh because you can't? I have to do all of the work for this to happen like a good little _wife _would!"

"Who said you were my wife!"

Nami felt his grip hardening around her arm. His other hand found its way to her chin to make her look him in the eyes. The sheer harshness of his tone made her stomach flip. It hurt.

"I'm glad I'm no longer betrothed to _you! _If you don't plan to marry a woman…" She said with her voice trembling. "…then don't mark and claim them!"

Her knee connected with his stomach and her hand swiped his own from her body. She ran off into the woods hurt.

'_Damn it Zoro, you just had to put your foot in it!' _He mentally cursed rubbing his stomach of any pain. He noticed her eyes turning softer but growing with more hurt. He felt her heart beat rising through each thoughtless word. What was worse was he never meant it. Nothing would make her happier than to be with Nami until he died. The point was to fix things in their encounter but he only made them worse and ended up fighting.

"_I'm glad I'm no longer betrothed to you! If you don't plan to marry a woman…then don't mark and claim them!"_

He felt that sick feeling rising to his stomach again. She couldn't want him and any chance of them being together would have probably ended thanks to his stupidity.

* * *

"Zoro! What took you so long? Huh? Where is-?" Luffy questioned before Zoro shot him an annoyed glance.

"You know… Eyebrows and two other chicks took her back to Coco," He said annoyed leaning against a tree. He took in Chopper and Usopp's new posture which was tense and worried.

"Aww! I thought she would stay longer," Luffy pouted looking into the fire. Zoro didn't take Luffy to be a good liar and knew he must have assumed Zoro and Nami knew about each other. Whereas the other two…

"So guys, forget to mention something?" He asked with a deathly tone.

"Zoro! I'm sorry! We just wanted you guys to get along!" Chopper wailed.

"Chopper!" Usopp booted the little reindeer and stood up tall. "I don't know what you mean!"

Zoro grew angry and grabbed Usopp to shake violently. His usual shake would have been threatening and forceful; but these guys had changed him and it was a pitiful shake as he broke out into fangs and white eyes.

"LIAR!" He cursed loudly, Usopp flinging his head madly.

Luffy started to laugh like he understood them but he quickly leaned over to Chopper and asked what was happening.

"EH! You didn't know Nami was from Coco?!" He asked jumping up receiving an Usopp to the face.

"It's too late now," He added softening his expression and looking away.

"Huh?"

"What happened?"

Reluctantly, he spoke, "Let's just say your plans failed" He turned around and headed through the forest.

Luffy followed him with a new kind of expression. He was serious.

"Zoro," He said grabbing the man's arm and stopping him. Zoro almost ripped the hand from his arm at the unknown voice; he didn't recognise it.

When he turned to see Luffy his expression was priceless. Confusion mixed with worry and overall he looked like he had been swatted in the face a few times. "W-What?"

"What happened?"

"…"

"The bonds are unbreakable. If you can't resolve whatever happened, trust becomes an issue with us" Luffy said lowly and threateningly.

Zoro's face showed pure shock from Luffy's bold statement. He didn't think the teenager knew what half of those words meant.

He sighed; it would be a long night…


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

Sobs echoed through the fairly large hut. He stood outside and waited for any sign that they would stop. He wished there was something he could do for her, but when he didn't know the situation, all he could do was stand back and watch. That hurt him the most.

"Chief-san?!" Sanji jumped as he rounded the corner. He had went to talk with Nami and encourage or cheer her up but when he seen her father waiting outside he was more than frightened.

Genzo was a well respected man and never one to be aggressive towards villagers, but when Nami was upset, he tried his best for his little girl; he didn't want the chief to think it was Sanji's doing. "How many times must I tell you to call me Genzo?" He smiled.

"G-Genzo-san? I'm sorry. I came to cheer Nami up"

"Aa, I understand, although I don't know the situation. Go on in," He drew the curtain to the hut and let the young blonde man enter the hut.

'_A demon_?'

"_N__o! You're not a demon! You're not! _

'_Who said you were my wife!'_

"_Why did you say it like that?! Do I… disgust you? Why did you do this to me then?! You took me; what did you expect? Marked me! I thought you… you… you're supposed to love me!"_

"Nami-san?" Sanji asked quietly kneeling down beside her.

"Go away!" She mumbled a breathy answer through her covers.

"I'm sorry, I just came to…"

"Cheer me up? You can't cheer me up! I appreciate the concern, but just leave me alone!" Sanji stood awkwardly, running his hand through his blonde hair.

"Nami-san… He… I'm sure that… Zoro _does _love you!" He finally announced. He had known he couldn't come in between that and wouldn't attempt something so low, no matter how much he liked Nami.

Genzo gasped at Sanji. He looked ridiculous right now; crouched outside of the hut with his ear poking through the curtain and a confused expression on his face. _'Since when did she see Zoro? Love her? Hmm…' _He continued to pry into the conversation. After all, it was for his daughter's welfare!

"What do you know?!" She finally yelled looking up at him. He felt his heart plunge when he seen the dry and wet tears from her puffy eyes stain her red cheeks. "You didn't hear him!"

"What did that bastard say?! I'll-!"

"Stop it!"

"…"

"It's _my_ fault. I should have _known_ better. I… _gave_ myself to a _stranger_… how _stupid_ of me!" She said sourly with a light, crazed laugh.

"Nami-san? Gave yourself… what do you-?"

"Of all people! You _surely _should know what I mean!" She added, hiding her face under the covers once more.

"Nami-san… you-?"

"Please Sanji, go. I… want to be alone right now."

"I understand Nami-san… goodnight" He left the hut with a small nod, which almost stood out as a bow.

She looked back down feeling guilty but that emotion soon passed by as other, more harsh emotions followed.

'_This is so you know you're mine, so no other man looks at you wrongly' _

'_You'll have to be my woman now' _

"_Liar! Liar! Liar! LIAR!"_

"Nami; we should talk," Genzo said sitting down beside her. He lifted her covers and snuggled up next to her in a protective hug.

"Daddy!" She cried into his shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay. You know, Roronoa Nakai is quite a stubborn man; he often put his foot into things and said stupid things he later regretted. Always messing things up and saying hurtful words he doesn't mean…"

"Wha-!"

"You know, Zoro is a lot like his father, no matter how much he denies it."

Nami knew he must have heard the conversation and, to some extent, know what has happened. "Father! I'm so sorry! I…shouldn't have-!"

"Nami!" He silenced her and leaned up on his arm. "We did this a lot huh? When you kept getting into trouble," She giggled in reply. "Don't be sorry, you did what you thought was right."

"But it's shameful! I'm not even married and I… I"

"Do you regret it?"

"…no." Really, what an awkward conversation to have with her father; she would have died with embarrassment if she wasn't so overcome with despair.

"It's never too late for an apology."

"It's not me who should be sorry!"

"Whoa, maybe my stubbornness passed on too?"

"…"

"Well whatever you choose to do; make sure you won't regret it in the end" He stood up after kissing his daughter on the head and left the hut. He knew she would need some time to think.

* * *

After what seemed like hours of crying, Nami finally found herself falling into a light, dreamless sleep. Her tears had dried to her face leaving small lines marking her skin.

"Nami…" A breathy whisper called making her stir and roll over. Her head kept shaking as the calls continued until her eyes gently opened and a dark figure could be seen above her head.

"Who-?"

"It's us…" Above her head, the moonlight illuminated Usopp's face, which looked slightly worried.

"Usopp?"

"Hey Nami"

"What are you-?"

"We came to talk," Luffy said appearing beside her.

"Luffy?"

"Nami, you have to work it out with Zoro," Chopper said, running up to her and hugging her.

"Chopper? I can't! He… he doesn't want _me_!"

"That's a lie," Luffy interjected.

"It isn't! He… told me…"

"Let me guess," Luffy said crouching beside her; Nami could tell this wasn't one of his carefree moments. _"Who said you were my wife?"_

"How do you know?"

"He told us…"

"Oh yeah? What else did he say?"

"It's not our place to say, he told us what happened though," Usopp added. Nami didn't think that sounded good.

"Why should I be the one to work it out with him? When he said-?"

"Nami, I don't care who is to blame! The bonds are final!" Luffy held his hand out to show their pact's scar and Usopp and Chopper followed.

Nami lowered her head. She knew Luffy wouldn't back down in this argument; but that didn't mean she had to fix their relationship… only her friendship.

She looked up and held her own hand out showing her scar. "I'll fix our bonds, but _only _our bonds."

"Nami," Usopp looked over with a stern expression; they all knew what she meant.

"Our relationship wasn't a part of the bond! The bond was a friendship… as Nakama!"

"It's okay Usopp, she's right."

"But Luffy!"

"Don't worry Usopp, it isn't our business. As long as the bonds are fixed!" Luffy turned and peeked out of the hut ready to run behind different buildings. They weren't welcome in both villages and sneaking in had been hard due to the night guards stationed at almost every corner.

Once they left the hut Nami had fallen asleep full of thoughts of the soon to come talk with the opposing village.

"Hey Luffy… is it really okay for them to be nothing more than this?"

"Like I said Usopp… Don't worry." Luffy's serious demeanour had passed since he was assured that the bonds would remain. He turned around with his happy-go-lucky expression, "After what Zoro said, he isn't going to let her get away with _just _a friendship!"

They all grinned at each other and continued through the night, avoiding anyone's eyes.

* * *

"No Nami-san! It was I who was at fault! Please do-!"

"Sanji! I mean it; I'm sorry." The orange haired woman bowed lowly, earning plenty of questioning looks from the surrounding villagers. For the Tribe's leader's daughter to bow to others was a rare thing, especially with a personality like hers.

"But!" The blonde pitifully tried to keep his place and make sure none of the villagers got the wrong impression.

"Thank you for caring Sanji… for being there for me" She raised her head to the blushing blonde and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, earning even more gasps.

"Yes Nami-Swan!" He chimed happily. When she moved away, with a grin, she turned around and headed back for her hut feeling somewhat more guilt-free.

A small smile played on her lips until she remembered her mission to the other village. Suddenly, her proud posture faded into a slight defenceless curl. She noticed Vivi and Robin from a distance smiling over at her. They knew her decision and where she was headed.

Earlier that morning, she had confronted her father with her plan and told him not to worry. She would make sure the villages were reunited and it seemed like some of the villagers had heard of the passing rumour she told Robin and Vivi to spread. They seemed to clump together in lines that lead to the edge of the village. Some smiled, and some had genuinely scared expressions; but she knew they were all behind her all the way.

Feeling confidence run through her, she headed towards the out stretched plains keeping her smile strong to give hope to all those who seen it.

"Who goes there?!" A strong, masculine voice called from behind the rocky boulders placed in front of the Shimo tribe.

She chose to ignore them until they came to her or she got closer.

"Stop! What business do you have in Shimo? Where did you come from?"

"I seek council from the Tribe's leader!"

"For what reasons _woman_!?" One man in particular yelled walking closer to her.

"A peace treaty between villages"

The men looked around each other and began to laugh loudly. Their sickening voices travelled into Nami's head and echoed. She wouldn't let herself be laugh at or turned away whilst in this village.

"I am the daughter of Chief Genzo and demand a meeting with Chief Nakai!" She finally yelled attracting the attention of a few villagers behind the men who dropped their baskets or gasped. She had had it with trying to be polite with these people, so she decided to be blunt and to the point. "Tell Chief Nakai that Nami wants to talk!"

They looked her up and down after their laughter died down and began to whisper to one another. Finally, a soldier left their ranks while two walked up to Nami with a stern expression. "You'll wait for his approval before you can order _us _around!" One warned her deathly. Her eyebrow's furrowed and they began to glare at one another.

"Nami-san, Chief Nakai is waiting," The soldier announced who came back a little shook up.

"Thank you" She grinned following the soldier, but not before finishing her glaring contest with the cocky soldier who had tried to intimidate her.

As they walked through the village, Nami couldn't help but noticed that many of the houses or formations looked identical to Coco's. Even some of the people looked and smiled similar. She had known that some families became separated thanks to the broken ties between the villages.

They finally came to a larger hut which looked similar to Nami's own. She let a small smile play on her lips before entering. A sickening, butterfly feeling rose in Nami's stomach as she entered the hut; it smelt like him. Familiar scenes played through her head of their night by the river and in the field.

"Nami?" Nakai choked as he witnessed the grown up girl.

"Nakai-san?" She walked further in and smiled at him.

"You… look like your mother" He smiled back at her.

She laughed easing the tension and replied, "You haven't changed"

She ran for the uncle-like figure and hugged him tightly, still laughing. "I missed you!"

"Still as energetic as ever I see. I had fun chasing you and Zoro around when you ran away."

She pulled away feeling her heart almost stop and looked up at the man, "W-What?!"

"You two were always finding new things to do…"

"I… used to play with Zoro?" She choked in shock, earning a questioning glance.

"Nami? Oh…" He looked down at her leg and seen the bite wound that had been attempting to heal and things started to make sense. "You were the 'girl' he was looking after right?"

"W-What? Well yeah," She looked away shyly.

"I wondered why he came back acting strangely"

"What did we used to do?" She asked with glazed eyes. She couldn't remember her childhood well and couldn't even recall Zoro's name when he first introduced himself.

"You would run around trying to keep him from challenging people and he would often fetch you things; nothing special. Thing like shells, or strange trinkets. You even bathed together!" He laughed at this last part as if it was a casual thing to discuss but Nami simply blushed and looked to her feet. He mentally compared her reaction to Zoro's when he heard the same news.

'_Heh, I guess things don't change…' _She thought recalling their more recent 'bath'. "That's embarrassing"

"Nami"

"We must have peace; we can't do this to the villagers"

"Nami-…"

"Please let me finish first. I have heard many stories of how you felt the war would also release any tension the villagers would have. But that isn't reason enough for war! We had numerous deaths over a few loose animal attacks which would have been less likely to happen if we were one force! You've heard about the gang that terrorizes us both right?"

"Yes?"

"Wouldn't it be better if we worked together to overcome this? They have raped, kidnapped and attacked a number of people from both of the villages! Peace between our villages would be more beneficial"

"I understand… I… well… the village men were psyched about…"

A small vein began to throb in her head showing her annoyance, so she pushed her knuckle against his head and lowered his head, "That isn't good enough!"

"I know! I know!" He grinned patting her head. "But…,what can I do about it? I promised them war."

"Jeez, what a thing to promise," She grimaced before pulling up, "Then let the villages hold a competitive battle each year,"

His eyebrows rose as he contemplated the idea and he finally smacked his hand. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"Where does Zoro get his seriousness from?" She said under her breath before thinking about how his mother must behave. "I guess that means-?"

"No more war," He smiled.

"I'll tell my father! Oh! You two have to meet up to talk things over!" She warned with an outstretched finger.

"That's fine," He agreed, walking with her to the outside of his hut. "Then, in the centre of the plains… tomorrow after dawn"

Nami nodded and waved to him walking away. She stopped suddenly when she began to trace the small lumpy scar on her palm. "Nakai!" She yelled earning some unwanted attention from villagers who thought her disrespectful towards the head. "Where… where is _he_?"

Nakai smiled sadly at her and shrugged. He was being truthful to the girl. As soon as Zoro came home, he left almost immediately with Johnny and Yosaku. He felt he should tell them what happened and try to become friends with them instead of this annoying comrade talk they would have.

"Un, I see," Nami turned around after a final wave and proceeded to the outskirts of the village. She felt a little let down by not seeing the familiar green haired tormenter but decided that she could make it up with him another time. She just hoped he wouldn't be difficult.

* * *

"_Zoro! Where were you?! I was so…"_

"_Worried?" The green haired man smirked before his smile dropped. The weight from his depression had taken its toll on his face and smiling, smirking and any sort of expression immediately dropped into a scowl or frown. "I had to look after some chick who got hurt… we were stuck in Oni-Mori"_

_Nakai sighed, he had been truly worried for his son but over the years, the emotions between the two became unnecessary or rather; pointless. They didn't feel the need to have to display their emotions in order to become stronger emotionally. In a way, they grew cold. "Chick? I take it you mean a young woman…?"_

"_Che!"_

"_The daughter of Coco Village went missing too," He was curious to know who this girl he was with was; even though deep down, he already knew. He noticed Zoro stiffen and continue to a corner where he grabbed a change of clothes. "So… who was this girl?"_

"_Don't play dumb!" Zoro almost yelled in frustration. Right now, he didn't want to talk about her. She already plagued his mind enough and he knew his old man knew who the girl was._

"_What's wrong?" His worry continued to soar after Zoro's reaction. He hoped she was alright._

"_Nothing… she's fine"_

"_That's good… I was kind of like an uncle to her you know?"_

"…"

"_You used to bath together with her!"_

_Zoro immediately fell to the floor and grimaced. He couldn't believe this information had just started to be mentioned. His face began to shine a light red colour and he coughed to clear his throat and moved to the huts exit._

_His clothes flung over his shoulder and a scowl set in place. "I'm gonna go to Shimo-Mori with the guys" _

Nakai sighed and nipped the skin in between his eyebrows. His son hadn't returned yet and Nami's reaction to his name was unusual. He couldn't tell exactly what had happened but something bad must be happening between the two… and his blush indicated they had become more than friends.

* * *

"Whoa… that was… easy?" Nami's father replied with shock etched into his slightly wrinkled skin. He had expected she would be gone for most of the day but no more than a couple of hours.

"You're right, now that this pointless war is over and a peace treaty seems to be looked into, the villages will be at ease!" Nami exclaimed swinging her arms over her head as she plopped onto the floor. "You have to meet him tomorrow in the centre of the plains… you'll have to work things out… meet up for once… it'll be good for you to see him again!"

Genzo recognizably frowned with worry. What if he screwed something up tomorrow and his daughter's negotiations were for nothing? What if they argued and war began there and then? "Nami?"

"No! I won't go… it is all up to you! Jeez, no one would suspect you were your age! Now grow up and stop holding my hand!" Nami yelled with an annoyed expression, making her father scuttle backwards and pout.

"O-Okay!" He said in a hurry and he nervously looked over to his frowning daughter.

"Good," She smirked and lay down with her hands behind her head.

* * *

The night glazed the sky quite rapidly and crickets could be heard surrounding the village, lurking in the tufts of grass here and there. She awoke to their delightful tune and smiled gently. It was unusual for her to awake in the night unless she felt she had to do something. She stood up and walked out of the hut in a dreamy state, not forgetting, however, to pick up her leg strap with her trusting weapon.

She just kept walking and walking. Her feet seemed to lead her out of the village and her conscious gradually took over throughout her journey; until her feet became cold with a strange wetness. The chill which rose through her body snapped her out of her trance and she looked down to see her feet and ankles submerged with water.

She shrieked and turned around to climb back up to the grass bank. She shivered and cursed herself for doing something so stupid. She sat down hurriedly and began to rub her feet hoping to warm them up. After the tingling sensation went away a new tingling began in her stomach as she looked up at her surroundings and realised where she was; or more specifically… who was standing in front of her.

"…"

"…"

"What?" She asked with an irritated glare.

"…idiot…"

"Oh, well _sorry _for being an idiot!" She snapped refusing to move or blink in the staring hold they shared.

He sighed knowing where their conversation would go. He was about to back out when she smirked at his lack of an answer and sent him into a defensive mode.

"What are _you _doing here?!" He asked removing his glare and turning back around.

"None of your business"

"_Sorry _I asked"

"…"

"…"

"Zoro?"

He turned around to look at the shivering girl who sat rubbing her feet unconsciously. She looked so fragile, so vulnerable, so... He looked down to what she was wearing and blushed looking away quickly. She wore tiny, dress-like clothing and had a thin blanket around her shoulders. He couldn't believe how stupid she was walking in the centre of Oni-Mori dressed in almost nothing, in the middle of a cold night.

"I came to renew our bonds"

He turned around again, only a little faster and with wide eyes. Did that mean she still liked him? She still wanted to be with him?

"Luffy said, our bonds were final… right?" She looked up this time to meet his gaze. She looked deep into his dark orbs and seen something she didn't expect; longing… or was it… disappointment?

"He said the same thing to me; I've never seen him so serious"

His voice seemed to sooth her and momentarily made her forget the cold weather. When his words registered, she realised all was forgiven, but knew that they might have lost something.

"So, we're okay right?" She asked hopefully. She had thought that she would be stronger than she felt at this moment. She would renew their friendship and that was all. After seeing the disappointment in his eyes, she too started to feel the same. She knew she would always want more than his friendship.

"Yeah, sure," He turned around to view the lake they shared a moment at. Maybe it was the scenery making them feel like this.

"That's good"

"Nami"

"Yeah?" She looked up at him again, only this time she had stood up to leave.

He paused for a moment, wondering how he could tell her of his hope, fear and all the emotions she made him feel; all the doubt going through his mind of their friendship. How could he tell her he wanted more than that? Biting back his pride, he knew she needed to hear his words.

"I… I love you"


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

"I… uh… you…" Nami didn't know what to say. She hadn't meant to wonder out in the middle of the night and have an encounter with the green haired warrior. What made it worse was how those magic three words managed to throw her off the point of their meeting. They sent countless emotions running through her head that she couldn't seem to express them all at once.

"Nami?" He took a tentative step forward and his hand reached out to touch her but she moved away from him.

"The bonds are safe now right?"

"Th-!"

"Good! I'm going back now. I'll probably see you soon; until then…" She turned around and walked away through the thick bushes and disappeared from sight.

'_Shit! Why did I say that?! Of course she isn't like other girls; she won't fall for stupid words! That's why I was attracted to her in the first place! I can't believe I just ruined everything! Bonds? Che! Things won't ever be the same! Damn it!'_

'_He loves me… he loves me… he loves me… what the hell?! Why? He can't love me! This complicates things! How can I ever have a friendship when he wants something more? But then again… I want something more… things weren't supposed to go so fast! What am I supposed to do? I ran away from him… I didn't even answer. He'll hate me now! I'm… I'm such a coward!'_

* * *

"Honey? You've been moping in the corner for some time now. Want to talk?" A strong, deep voice called from the doorway of the hut.

"No father, I… have to sort this one out alone… 'kay?" she smiled weakly up at her father before returning her gaze to the floor.

It was true though; she had been sitting in the corner, hugging her knees and mumbling incoherent things under her breath since she came back in the middle of the night. With one look, you would think the girl was crazed; she hadn't slept and the sun was now high in the sky.

"Well… I'm going to the meeting now. Sure you don't want to-?"

"Dad, good luck. See you later"

He nodded in reply and stepped out of the doorway. The village seemed to catch on to the news since they were gathered along the streets, wishing him a safe journey and telling him to be careful. The children gathered offered him small flowers they had picked carelessly. Some of the flowers still had roots attached but it only seemed to add to their cute, innocent nature.

Of course he accepted these small gifts and patted their heads earning a giggle or a grin in return. They were the people who he was fighting for; the people who were suffering from his past mistakes; the people he would make things right for.

He noticed two familiar faces leaning against a nearby hut, smiling in reassurance. But they shouldn't be reassuring him. Someone else needed their smiles and encouragement.

"I think my daughter needs you. I'm guessing it's a woman's matter; she… seems lost"

They lost their smiles and nodded more seriously following orders and running to his hut. Once there, they peeled back the furred curtain and stepped in to see the red head hunched up in a corner.

"Nami?" The bluehaired Vivi called, walking over to their friend. She immediately looked up to them when they entered and smiled in relief. Now was a time when she needed a girl's advice.

* * *

_**Sometime later…**_

"He what!?" Vivi yelled in shock while the darker haired woman smiled contently.

"I'm such a coward. I just walked away without answering him… what should I do?"

"Well"

"I DID IT!" a more victorious voice called from the doorway, holding his hand out in a peace sign.

"Dad?" Nami asked standing up now.

"Everything is fine now, there is no more war… _and…_" He added extra emphasis on this last word, making all three girls lean in with curiosity written in their features. "…there will be a celebratory party held in the plains two days from now!"

Nami and Vivi fell to the floor realising he was more interested in a huge party. Robin simply tilted her head and sweat dropped down her defined cheek bones.

"Great; now I _have _to meet up with him," Nami said regaining her composure. Vivi and Robin looked over to her and shooed a very confused head of the village out of the room.

"This is your chance Nami!" Vivi announced standing strong. "Do you love him?"

"I…"

"I mean _really _love him"

"Well I-!"

"I mean the would-you-have-his-babies kind of love!"

"Vivi! Let me answer!" Nami yelled swatting her friend on the head.

"It is inevitable that you will be expected to talk with him. You need to tell him how you feel once and for all," Robin interrupted.

"You're right," She admitted in defeat letting her arms slump beside her.

"Can I come in now?"

They all sighed and nodded to the pouting, middle aged man in the doorway.

* * *

"Whoa; maybe she was just… overwhelmed?"

"Maybe she isn't into guys"

"Idiot! Of course she's into guys if she slept with him!"

"It coulda been a one off!"

"Idiot! Head daughters of a village don't sleep around for fun!"

Zoro sighed and rubbed his forehead. Maybe coming to Johnny and Yosaku for woman advice wasn't the best of choices. Plus, they seemed to be more open with him now he told them to treat him like a friend and not a superior. It was a good thing, but part of him thought they were treating him weak; he knew better of course.

"You should confront her! At that party thing the head organised"

"Yeah… but what do I say?"

"Just remind her that you love her"

Zoro grimaced. He didn't think about how he would have to tell them what he said as part of his story. He made them guess what he said instead of the words coming from his lips. He was stubborn and had his pride to think about.

"Zoro, I have an idea. That is, if you're up for such a step," Johnny said with a playful glint in his eye. "I hear that the outside, weapons maker is skilled at carving other things aside from weapons."

Zoro's eyebrow raised and his face was replaced with a smirk. Johnny's idea was the only way he could prove he hadn't meant what he said.

* * *

"I'm nervous!" Nami whimpered to her friends who drug her into the crowds of people. The plains had been decorated in little stone carved tables and stools and in front was a planked stage, which had been cut in Coco village the day before. Both villages had done their part in making the plain's look special.

Flowers were lying and hooked in every possible space thanks to the village children and a huge wooden plaque had been made and carved with a welcoming message. Strange foods had been made thanks to Sanji and Jessica, the head chef at Shimo.

"Courage, Nami! Courage!" Vivi grinned walking through the crowds. Robin had hold of Nami's right wrist while Vivi held the left. They even dressed Nami in a one piece, light brown dress.

"Okay Nami! We're going to split up and look for him! Wait here," Vivi said walking away giggling with Robin.

Nami stood by herself, slightly being pushed by passing people. They immediately apologized when they noticed who they had bumped into, but Nami wasn't paying much attention. Honestly, how hard was it to find a green haired man?

She had to think fast. Her father and Nakai were starting the speech to commence the party soon. She didn't want to cause a scene in the middle of their talk to both villages. She had to find something he would be drawn to, or someone who might have seen him.

"MEAT!"

It's funny how these solutions just pop up out of nowhere when you most need them…

"Luffy?" Nami was looking around for the table where the food would be stored but was stopped when she noticed a little pink hat and antlers. "Chopper!"

"N-Nami? Usopp! I found Nami!" The little reindeer cheered whilst staying near a table in the corner.

"How did you guys sneak in?"

"That was easy! These guys have nothing on _Captain-Usopp-sama!" _A familiar voice announced whilst striking a pose. Nami sighed and then smiled. It was about time these guys got let into the village too. But first she had to find someone.

"Have you seen Zoro? Where's Luffy? I thought I heard him…"

"I haven't seen Zoro. Luffy spotted the table of food and then we lost him."

"Yeah I heard that much; I need to find Zoro."

"You haven't renewed the bonds yet?!" Usopp shouted angrily.

"I have but… I need to tell him something."

"Oh," Usopp tried to hide his snickers behind his hand. He knew why she wanted him. "Maybe Luffy found him… or maybe he found Luffy after he shouted."

"Yeah, I'll go-"

"Well, I guess the rumours weren't true. You aren't as beautiful as everyone says," A snotty voice interrupted making Nami build up with hatred. She looked to her side to find herself staring at a tall busty brunette with full lips turned into a smirk.

"And you are?" Nami asked in a bored tone, not appearing intimidated by the out spoken woman.

"Oh, how rude of me; my name is Suzu. You should remember that name. After all, my father _is _working on my engagement with Zoro-sama," She answered snottily earning gasps from Chopper and Usopp and a glare from Nami.

"Oh, is that so? Has he agreed to this?"

"All in time my dear," Her eyes skimmed Nami up and down before she turned her attention to her nails with a smug smile.

"When did you first offer… your services?"

"Not that it is any of your business, but he was offered around a month ago… his father said he would think it over"

"Well, from what I know about Zoro, if he is given the chance to do something he wants, he takes it immediately."

"What's your point?!" She snarled.

"He couldn't be interested in you if he has turned you away for a month"

"What do _you _know about Zoro-sama?!" She spat trying to get up close to Nami.

"True, I suppose I don't know all there is to know about him. I mean, just because we slept with one another, it doesn't mean we _know _each other… don't you agree?"

This time, it was Nami's turn to smile, one of her own smug grins. Suzu's face dropped into an angry glare; disappointment, and anger, clearly written in her eyes. She stomped away angrily leaving Nami to laugh. She turned around and noticed Chopper and Usopp looking at her strangely. They had their eyebrow raised and a small smile on their lips. They knew that if Nami was deadly serious about what she was sticking up for, she would go to all lengths.

Nami grinned and turned around to head towards the table of food when a loud voice was heard. "Welcome to our village's peace party!" Her father yelled making Nami want to hit her head off something.

She turned around and looked towards the stage to find her father and Nakai embracing each other's shoulders like best mates. When Nami seen their award-winning smiles she felt like punching them in the face for all these years of war-talk.

A strange chill crept through her skin and she felt eyes boring into her. She looked around through the crowds until she noticed that familiar wave of green hair. She focused her eyes to notice him staring back at her, so resolute. She looked down to her feet quickly and made up her mind. Without looking back up at him, she ploughed through the villagers who were tightly cramped into one spot.

He seemed to take the hint; only his eyes never left her. He could only see a shadow cast over the top of her face as she pushed past the people to reach him. Her gaze seemed fixed on the floor, refusing to look up at the people she pushed past or at him.

He began pushing past the people, in the same manner, only each second he wasn't with Nami he became more irritated. They had been at opposite ends of the crowd and it was pure luck that they noticed each other. Hope started to build in Zoro. If she wouldn't look him in the eye but was fighting to be near him, shouldn't that mean… just maybe… she might love him in return?

They began to draw closer to each other and Nami started to slowly lift her head to find Zoro drawing closer. Only at meters apart did Nami finally look at him and then she widened her arms. Before he knew it, she had fallen into him and laced her arms around his neck.

"Nami?"

"I'msorryIdidn'tmeanitIloveyoutooIjustcouldn'tsayitbackthereI'msorryIdidn't meananythingIsaideitherI-!"

"Nami! Slow down, I can't understand you…" In truth, Zoro could hear most of what she was saying, but he wanted to hear her say those words slower.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean anything I had said to you… I-I love you too… I'm sorry I didn't say so earlier…"

Zoro's chest felt like it was about to explode. He grabbed Nami's back and pulled her closer into him, burying his face, and nuzzling into her hair. He ran his fingers down her spine and then down her arm, finding her hand. He carefully traced her fingers, making her giggle from the contact. She stopped giggling, however, when she felt something cold slip onto a certain finger. She pulled away, just enough to bring her hand up and stare at the metallic ring with orange stones in.

"I didn't mean what I said either… nothing would make me happier than to have you as my wife"

At first, Zoro thought he had done something wrong when the tears started to fall down her cheeks. But then she jumped at him again, hugging him tightly with a big grin.

"Erm… that's a yes right?"

"Yes!"

They carried on holding one another until something didn't seem right. They started to squirm and pull away from each other, looking around sheepishly. The whole of the crowd, including both of their father's on stage, were looking there way with either a grin or a shocked expression.

The silence continued and neither Zoro nor Nami could string together the right words. Nami started to laugh nervously and Zoro began to rub his head, looking from face to face. That was, until…

"KANPAI!" A loud voice screamed and laughed from over the food table.

In reality, they didn't need to look in that direction. They knew that voice too well, but they did anyway, to see Luffy was jumping up and down with two sticks of meat in each hand and one hanging from his mouth.

Guards from both villages found their way over to the energetic youth and pointed their weapons at him. "No!" Nami screamed running over to them. "We're supposed to be celebrating peace!" She turned her stare towards the stage where both Genzo and Nakai were looking over with blank expressions.

Zoro pushed through the guards and stood next to Luffy, making all of the armed men lower their weapons and bow. Zoro turned around to grin at Luffy, only to smack him on the head for bowing with the guards. "Grow up!"

"Luffy should be able to be a part of the village too! Along with Chopper and Usopp!"

"They're monsters!"

"They practice forbidden arts!"

"Who said they were forbidden!?" She yelled. "They are advanced in thing we don't understand! You're all too scared to get to know them! They are my friends and are not a threat to the village!"

Silence followed Nami's statement, and her friends could only smile at her leadership skills. Even Zoro thought she would probably be making most of the decisions for the villages.

"Well… that's fine with me," Genzo said scratching his head. "I completely trust Nami. What about you?" He looked over to Nakai who was clearly not bothered about anything.

"Yeah, fine with me. Anyway where were we? Oh yeah… My son just proposed"

Zoro and Nami started to blush again as the villagers turned their attention back on them.

"KANPAI!" Everyone yelled and erupted into chants and laughter. Nami got separated from Zoro by Vivi and Robin who hugged her and congratulated her.

"So, how did she like it?" Usopp asked nudging Zoro's ribs.

"Yeah"

"Yeah? What does that mean!?"

"Yeah… she liked it?"

"Honestly; what was the point in this war to begin with if you two get hitched anyway!?" Vivi whined to Nami while Robin smiled. Sanji was too busy swooning over Jessica near the food table to be interested in the engagement.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Nami laughed looking over her shoulder at her fiancé. He looked back and smiled at her, while Luffy started to jump up and down next to him.

This would be as perfect as it could get for them.

They had each other.

They had their friends.

They had two villages, which would soon be one, to look after.

But of course, they also had their disagreements.

* * *

_**In the not too distant future…**_

"What are you talking about?! No son OR daughter of mine is going to be training at _that _age!" A rather large Nami yelled at her disobedient husband.

"If they can walk, they can train!" He argued back, noticing a few heads hovering by their opening, which could be classed as a window in their hut.

"They are going to be brought up properly! Not like a soldier!"

"Che!" He walked over to the window and smacked one head in particular.

"OW! Zoro! What was that for!?" Luffy whined jumping up into view.

"Snooping"

"I wasn't snooping… err…" He started to sweat and grow nervous so he did what he normally did in these situations. Changed the subject to something fun. He ran over to Nami and wrapped his arms around her inflated stomach, nuzzling his face up and down. "I wanna be babysitter! I'll teach 'em to eat and stretch and eat and swing from trees and-!"

**Whack**

Even Nami's wrath couldn't remove Luffy. "What is with you guys?! It's a baby, not one of Usopp's mach-mac-mash-!"

"Machines!" Usopp called proudly, standing up from his spot in the window.

"Oh? You were there too?" Nami asked threateningly.

"I was forced to come by… err… him!" Usopp pulled Chopper up from his hiding place and threw him through the open window.

"No fair Usopp! Traitor!" He whined with crocodile tears.

"Doctor-san? Boys aren't supposed to cry," Robin said from nowhere, walking up to the fallen doctor.

"Robin!" He whined.

"Robin! You weren't supposed to leave me with cook-san!"

"Vivi-chwan! Robin-chwan!" A louder, more desperate voice yelled running up to the two women. "Nami-swan? You look as radiant as ever, even whilst five month pregnant!" He chimed, taking her hand to kiss.

"Bastard! Get off my wife!" Zoro yelled, sending the cook flying from his leg.

"Here we go again…" Nami sighed, trying to pry away from Luffy, who was still nuzzling at her stomach, and his vice grip.

**The End**


End file.
